The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) issued 125 certificates pertaining to copyright and related rights during the six-month period between October 1, 2015 and March 31 this year.
The registered certificates were distributed in the fields of painting (43), written material (42), architectural design and engineering (12), decorative arts (12), books (7), computer software (5), audio-visual works (3) and sculpture (1).
“In accordance with Law No 7 of 2002, the copyright is assigned to the author who created a piece of literary or artistic work, whether it was created by a single author or by a number of persons who joined together in creating it or if it has been classified collectively according to the directive of an ordinary or moral person,” the MEC said in a statement.
“All types of copyright works are protected throughout the life of the author and extend for a period of 50 years following his death or the death of the last co-authors,” it added.
The law defines related rights as the “rights of performers and producers of audio recordings and broadcasting organisations”.
As far as performers are concerned, their rights take effect from the end of the year of releasing the work to the public, while the rights of producers of audio recording material take effect from the year that follows the publication of the material or its release by media if it has not yet been published, the statement further explains.
The rights of broadcasting organisations are fixed for a period of 20 years.