Copyrights can be protected under the Intellectual Property Law No. 5 for the year 1999. The implementing regulations of this law is yet to be issued by the Ministry of Culture, which at the time of printing of this handbook had not been issued.
Protection will be granted to authors of literary, artistic and scientific works of whatever the value or kind or purpose or way of expression. Generally, protection will be provided for the works whose means of expression is writing, sound, drawing, image, motion pictures, creative titles or computer software. Translation of original works is also protected. Should the Author of a non Arabic work not translate his work within 5 years of issuance, then the Ministry of Culture will have the right to translate this work into Arabic and compensation to the author will be provided.
