No, it gives an automatic exclusive right to the owner of a copyright for a specific period over the copyrighted works. However, it is advisable for the copyright owner to claim ownership by filing a Copyright Voluntary Notification (VN) which can be used as prima facie evidence in proving his creative works as the owner of his copyrighted works. 

- Literary works;
- Musical works;
- Artistic works;
- Films;
- Sound recordings;
- Broadcasts; and
- Derivative works.

Generally, copyright shall subsist during the life of the author and shall continue to subsist until the expiry of a period of 50 years after his death. However, the copyright shall subsist for 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year that the work was first published, made, or fixed:


(a) Literary, musical or artistic works where the author is not known;
(b) Published editions;
(c) Sound recordings;
(d) Broadcasts;
(e) Films;
(f) Performers’ rights.

If the work has been recorded in the register for Copyright Voluntary Notification, it is always advisable to update the records at the Registry on any assignment and/or license by filing Notification of Assignment and/or License.

Copyright in Malaysia recognizes and protects a wide variety of works and the following works shall be eligible for copyright:-

-Literary works (such as books, plays, letters, scripts, computer programs, tables, and compilations);
-Musical works;
-Artistic works (such as photographs, drawings, sculptures, works of architecture);
-Films;
-Sound recordings; and
-Broadcasts.

Copyright will subsist in work if it is:-

-Original;
-Reduced to material form;
-Belongs to one of the categories of protected works; and
-Complies with the qualifications for copyright. 

If these requirements are met, a work is protected regardless of its quality and the purpose for which they were created. The protection is for the form of expression rather than the underlying content of the work. Thus, copyright protection shall not extend to any idea, procedure, method of operation, or mathematical concept as such.

In addition, the Copyright Act 1987 specifically provides that copyright shall not subsist in any design which is registered under any written law relating to industrial design.

Yes.

If you use copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you.

Key elements of copyright infringement cause of action can be referred to as follows:

-The copyright in a work is infringed when a person other than the copyright owner or his licensee, does or causes any other person to do any act which is controlled by copyright under the Copyright Act such as reproduces in any material form, performs, shows, plays or distributes to the public, communicates by cable or broadcast the whole work or a substantial part of it, either in its original or derivative form.

-Copyright is also infringed by the importation of articles into Malaysia, where it is known or ought reasonably to be known that the making of the article was carried out without the license of the copyright owner, for the purpose of:- 

(a)selling, letting for hire or by way of trade, offering or exposing for sale or hire the article;
(b)distributing the article:-

(i)for the purpose of trade; or
(ii)for any other purpose to an extent that it will affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright; or
(c)by way of trade, exhibiting the article in public.

Copyright is also infringed by a person who circumvents or causes another to circumvent any effective technological measures that are employed by authors to restrict acts in relation to their works that they have not authorized. Furthermore, the unlawful removal or alteration of any electronic rights management information, and the distribution or importation of works or copies of works knowing that such information has been removed or altered, constitute infringing acts. Electronic rights management information is the information that identifies the work, the author, the owner, or information about the terms and conditions of use of the work in an electronic form.

There are statutory exceptions that can be relied upon as defense against a claim of copyright infringement:-

(a)Acts done by way of fair dealing for purposes of research, private study, criticism, review, or the reporting of news or current events and accompanied by acknowledgments are not infringing acts. Where the use of the work is by way of fair dealing, there must be an accompaniment of an acknowledgment of the title of the work and its authorship. This is except in the cases where the use is for a sound recording, film, or broadcast.
(b)Fair dealing by way of a parody, pastiche, or caricature.
(c)Incidental inclusion in a film or broadcast of any artistic work situated in a place where it can be viewed by the public.
(d)The copying of a work for the private and domestic use of the maker.
(e)The use of work in judicial and legal proceedings.
(f)The use of a work by the government, the national archives or any state archives, the national library or any state library, or by public libraries and educational, scientific, or professional institutions, as the Minister may prescribe, where such use is in the public interest and is compatible with fair practice and both of the following apply:

•no profit is derived from the use;
•no admission is charged for the performance, showing, or playing if any of these are made to the public.
(g)Reproduction and distribution of copies of any artistic works where such works are situated in places where they can be viewed by the public.
(h)Incidental inclusion of a work in an artistic work, sound recording, film, or broadcast.

No.

Any original work is automatically subject to copyright protection under the law. The following actions can be done:

(a)Ensure your work is properly marked - A correctly worded notice will deter infringement, as it states that the work is protected under the law.
(b)Register the work - the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012 had introduced and established a new framework of Copyright Voluntary Notification which allows the author or owner to file their copyrighted works by notifying the Copyright Controller at the IP Office in Malaysia.
(c)Agreement between co-author – If the work is on the basis of joint ownership, it is important to specify the rights and other agreed terms.