The copyright office has finalised a new draft of the copyright law that increases penalties for offences and strengthens protections for folk knowledge and culture.

The draft will soon be sent to the law ministry for approval, said Mashiur Rahman, chief of the Copyright Board. Once the draft receives the green light from the law ministry it will be sent to the cabinet for final approval, said Rahman, also additional secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

Bangladesh introduced the Copyright Act in 2000 and amended it in 2005. The latest revision seeks to update and modernise the law.

The new draft incorporates the opinions of those affected by it, said Rahman.

The protection of folk knowledge and folk culture has been prioritised in the draft. The draft will also reform certain aspects of the law related to copyrights on music.

The new draft has also proposed harsher sentences for offences under the copyright law.

The draft has also proposed the formation of an anti-piracy taskforce and the provision of mobile courts to handle such cases.

Changes on the horizon

If approved, the new draft will become the Copyright Act, 2017.

The draft will include redefinitions of economic rights, moral rights, related rights, editorial, the public domain, folklore and folk culture and digital work.

The draft defines ‘folk knowledge’ as folk skills, information and culture handed over from generation to generation through oral, written or other means. In addition, tangible and intangible folk elements and expressions will be treated as ‘folk culture’. The culture of Bangladesh’s ethnic minorities will also be part of these definitions.

The new copyright draft also recognises digital content makers as ‘creators’. The definition of computer programs will be expanded to include data, source code, tables, charts, graphs, sounds and music, still and moving images, designs text, instructions and hints as well as manuals for use.

“Until now there has been no clear definition of digital content,” said Copyright Board member and BASIS President Mustafa Jabbar. “Now software-related issues can be resolved easily.”

Copyright title and ownership

The draft also includes new regulations regarding copyright titles and ownership.

Parodies that use the lyrics, music and tune of the national anthem, patriotic and religious music have been banned in the new draft.

No person or organisation will be able to claim copyrights to computer or digital works without prior agreement.

The use of scenes and storylines from movies will be illegal without prior permission from its producers.

Penalties for offences

The draft includes recommendations to increase the penalties for copyright and intellectual property rights violations.

A first offence in violating or supporting the violation of copyrights will still be punishable by six months to four years in prison and a Tk 50,000 to Tk 200,000 fine, but further offences will be punishable by a prison term of one to five years and a Tk 100,000 to Tk 300,000 fine. The current copyright law punishes repeat violations with a six-month prison sentence.

However, the maximum sentence for an offence for non-commercial purposes will be six months and the maximum fine will be Tk 50,000.

Penalties for providing false information to the registrar have also been increased.

Fines for publishers in violations of regulations have been raised from Tk 1,000 to a maximum of Tk 10,000. Copyright infringement of a book or magazine may also be dealt with through a fine equivalent to the price of that book or magazine.