Bahrain

FAQ


Creative works which are of a literary, scientific, artistic, and cultural nature are protected by copyright law in Bahrain.


The protection term is the life of the author plus 70 years after the death of the author.


Imprisonment for no more than one year and/or fine not exceeding BD1000.


It is possible to conduct a search at the copyright office in Bahrain if a work is actually copyrighted or not. You can also search the online database by using the title, creator's name, or keyword. Depending on your search terms, you may get so many results that you need to narrow them down by further filters. 


Since the published text will be considered as Article, hence as per the Copyright Law, it is protected, however, the author needs to take into consideration the principles of fair use as prescribed in the Copyright law.

The Copyright Law provides that infringement actions can be brought before the civil or criminal court, in addition to setting out the preliminary procedures to (i) prevent the infringement, (ii) prove it, and (iii) seize the infringing products. Before proceedings are filed with any court action the copyright holder can send a warning letter asking for the cessation of the infringement. 
Where the infringer does not cooperate the owner can then sue them. Under Article 5 of Bahrain Law No. 22/2006: 
'1) An author shall enjoy eternal intangible non-prescriptive and inalienable rights that shall not prescribe as follows: 
d) The right to prevent any misrepresentation, distortion, or any other alteration of his work or any prejudice that may be harmful to the author's honor or reputation


Still, the owner of the copyright can act against the person who used his copyright work without this authorization, unless it falls under the category of fair use, noting that the other party can try and prove his good faith and cease any infringement.


Such pictures or quotes fall under copyright protection, hence using them without the author’s approval might be considered an infringement against their right, unless this use falls under the free use concept as prescribed by the Copyright Law.


The Law provides protection to literary, artistic, and scientific works upon the creation thereof without the need for any procedural formality regardless of the value of such works, type, purpose of creating them, method of expression thereof, or form of such expression.
Thus, if the work is not officially published, hence the owner needs to record it in a tangible form in order to be able to prove its creation. 

Head Office

Bldg. No. 46, Abdel Rahim Al-Waked Street, Shmeisani
P.O. Box: 921100, Amman 11192, Jordan
Telephone: (00 962-6) 5100 900
Email : agip@agip.com

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