Frequently asked questions
- What is copyright?
- What is protected by copyright?
- How to obtain copyright protection?
- What are the related rights of copyright?
- How to establish a collective management agency of copyright and related rights?
- What is the standard for collection of licensing fees of a collective management agency of copyright and related rights? How will the collected fees be distributed?
- What should citizens do when they receive a letter advising payment of licensing fee from a collective management agency of copyright and related rights?
- If playing music CD’s or movie DVD’s in shops is an act of “public use”, does it require prior permission by the relevant copyright owners or their collective management agencies of copyright and related rights?
1. What is copyright?
Copyright refers to the creator’s right to possess, use, and generate benefits from his pieces.
2. What is protected by copyright?
Any pieces which are the product of human creativity are protected by copyright, e.g. literary works, artistic works, movies, musical works, dramatic works, computer software, photography, sculpture, ceramic pieces, architecture, etc.
3. How to obtain copyright protection?
A creator can enjoy copyright protection without registration. In fact, the protection is effective automatically once the piece is made, no matter if it is disclosed or not. Copyright only protects the form or format of a piece, but not the idea, method, opinion and fact.
4. What are the related rights of copyright?
Related rights of copyright refer to the formats of books and periodicals designed by the publisher, performances of performers, audio and video products of the producer, the programme produced by radio stations and TV stations.
5. How to establish a collective management agency of copyright and related rights?
According to Articles 195 and 196 of the Copyright and Related Rights Regime approved by Decree-Law No. 43/99/M and amended by Law No. 5/2012, any legal person established in the Macao SAR with the main objective of conducting collective management of copyright and related rights shall register as a collective management agency of copyright and related rights at the Economic and Technological Development Bureau at least 30 days prior to commencement of operation.
A collective management agency of copyright and related rights collectively exercises the rights related to owners, including: accepting owners’ authorisations, supervising and examining the use of works, negotiating with users of work on behalf of the owners, signing licensing agreements, collecting licensing fees, and distributing the collected licensing fees reasonably to every related owner. It is a civic organisation instead of a government authority or institution.
6. What is the standard for collection of licensing fees of a collective management agency of copyright and related rights? How will the collected fees be distributed?
Since copyright is a private right, only the copyright owner has the right to freely choose the means and terms of using and exploiting the works and set the fee standard for licensing of works on his/her own, as well as to determine the method of distribution of the collected licensing fees when establishing an agency relationship with a collective management agency of copyright and related rights.
Although copyright is a private property, a collective management agency of copyright and related rights still has the obligation to provide the information of principal and terms of use of the work, including its fee standard and specific method of fee distribution, to anyone in need, especially individuals, enterprises or organisations intending to use the work. Users may, based on their own circumstances or needs, consider whether to accept the fees, so as to decide whether to use the work.
7. What should citizens do when they receive a letter advising payment of licensing fee from a collective management agency of copyright and related rights?
When receiving a written advice requesting payment of copyright licensing fee from a collective management agency of copyright and related rights, citizens may request that organisation to provide proof of the right to manage the related work(s) to verify if it has the right to exercise the licensing rights or collecting licensing fees on behalf of the owner(s). Upon confirming the legitimacy of the organisation, and on a mutually voluntary basis, the two parties shall draw up a copyright licensing agreement in written form, specifying details such as the means, scope, time, place, and frequency of use, as well as the fee charging method and calculation standard. After paying the licensing fees, they should request an official receipt from that collective management agency of copyright and related rights and keep it properly as a proof of payment of licensing fees.
8. If playing music CD’s or movie DVD’s in shops is an act of “public use”, does it require prior permission by the relevant copyright owners or their collective management agencies of copyright and related rights?
Phonographic or videographic products (including: music CD) and audio-visual works (including: movie DVD) are protected by copyright as long as they are original works.
Anyone purchasing a genuine copy of CD or DVD merely implies acquiring the ownership of such articles. It does not simultaneously mean owning the performance rights of the composer(s), lyric writer(s), and records company(ies) of the CD, or that of the scriptwriter(s), director(s) or music creator(s)/transcriber(s), and of the movie investor or production company of the DVD. As a result, if playing music CD’s or movie DVD’s publicly in shops is an act of “public use”, it requires prior permission by the relevant copyright owners or their collective management agencies of copyright and related rights. Otherwise, it might constitute an infringement of the performance right of the copyright owners. However, if the playing of music CD’s or movie DVD’s is for non-profit purposes and takes place at non-publicly accessible areas (e.g. home), it is a private use and does not require the owners’ permission or payment of licensing fees.
For other questions, please visit the “Intellectual Property – FAQ” page of the DSEDT website.