– Copyright Act 1987, in force since December 1, 1987, last amended by Copyright (Amendment) Act 2022, in force since March 18, 2022 (except sections 4, 5, 6 and 10).
– Copyright (Application to Other Countries) Regulations 1990, in force since October 1, 1990, last amended by Copyright (Application to Other Countries) (Amendment) Regulations, in force since January 1, 1996.
– Copyright (Application to other Countries) Order 2000.
– Copyright (Copyright Tribunal) Regulations 2012, in force since September 1, 2012, last amended by Copyright (Copyright Tribunal) Regulations 2020, in force since July 1, 2020.
– Copyright (Collective Management Organization) Regulations 2022, in force since March 18, 2022.
– Copyright (Voluntary Notification) Regulations 2012, last amended by Copyright (Voluntary Notification) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, in force since March 18, 2022.
– Copyright (Authorized Entity) Order 2022, in force since June 30, 2022.
– Copyright (Authorized Entity) Regulations 2022, in force since June 30, 2022.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since January 1, 1989.
– Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, since October 1, 1990.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– WIPO Copyright Treaty since December 27, 2012.
– WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, since December 27, 2012.
– Marrakesh Treaty, since June 30, 2022.

The following works are eligible for copyright: (a) literary works; (b) musical works; (c) artistic works; (d) films; (e) sound recordings; and (f) broadcasts.

Copyright protection is also accorded to derivative works such as translations, adaptations, arrangements and transformations, collection of works or collection of data whether machine readable or in some other form and published editions.

Eligibility: a work would be eligible for copyright protection if the work is first made and published in Malaysia by a qualified person. In relation to an individual, it means a person who is a citizen or a permanent resident in Malaysia and in relation to a body corporate, it means a body corporate incorporated in Malaysia. A work is deemed published, if a copy or copies of the work have been made available with the consent of the copyright owner in a manner sufficient to satisfy the reasonable requirements of the public. If the first publication is not in Malaysia, it nevertheless suffices if it were first published in a World Trade Organization member country. However, only published editions of U.K. works enjoy copyright protection in Malaysia. In the case of live performance a copy or copies of the fixed live performance must have been made available with the appropriate consent in a manner sufficient to satisfy the reasonable requirements of the public.

Exclusive rights: a copyright owner of a literary, musical, artistic work, film, sound recording or derivative work has the exclusive right to control in Malaysia (a) the reproduction of the work in any material form; (b) the communication of the work to the public; (c) the performance, showing or playing of the work to the public; (d) the distribution of copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or the commercial rental of the work to the public.

Copyright in industrial designs: under the Copyright Act 1987, where a design has been registered under any industrial design law, it will lose its copyright protection. Where a design is capable of being registered but has not been registered, it shall cease to be protected by copyright as soon as an article to which it has been applied is reproduced more than fifty times by an industrial process by the owner of the copyright or with his authorization.

Duration of protection: with regard to literary, musical, and artistic works, copyright protection subsists during the life of the author and fifty years after his death. If the work had not been published before the author’s death, the duration of copyright shall be fifty years commencing from the calendar year next following the year of publication. In the case of published editions, the duration is fifty years from the calendar year following the year in which the edition was first published. In the case of sound recordings, it would be fifty years from the beginning of the next calendar year following the year of first publication or if the sound recording has not been published, the duration would be fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year of fixation. For broadcasts, it would be fifty years from the calendar year following the year of making of the broadcasts and in the case of films, it is fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film was first published. Rights in a live performance shall continue to subsist until the expiry of fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year during which the live performance was given.

Ownership and assignment: copyright vests initially in the author but may be assigned or devolved by transmission or testamentary disposition. Subject to any agreement, the copyright in a work that has been commissioned belongs to the person who commissioned it and the copyright in a work authored by an employee belongs to the employer.

License: the copyright owner may license another to an act the doing of which he has the exclusive right to control. A license must be in writing and may be for future works.

Infringements: a person who does or causes another to do any of the acts over which the copyright owner has exclusive control without authorization is an infringer.

Infringement by importation: copyright is also infringed by a person who, without authorization of the copyright owner, imports an article into Malaysia for the purpose of selling, letting for hire, or by way of trade, offering or exposing for sale or hire the article or distributing the article for the purpose of trade or for any other purpose to an extent that it will affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright or by way of trade exhibiting the article in public. Parallel imported items are not considered infringing articles. Circumventing or causing another to circumvent any effective technological measures that are used by authors in connection with the exercise of their right and that restricts acts, in respect of their works that are not authorized by the authors or permitted by law, is also an infringing act. Likewise, copyright is also infringed by a person who performs, induces, enables, facilitates or conceals the removal or alteration of any electronic rights management information without authorization or distributes, imports, or communicates to the public without authorization of works or copies of works knowing that electronic rights management information has been removed or unlawfully altered. “Rights management information” refers to information which identifies the works, the author or information about the terms and conditions of use of the work, any numbers or quotes etc. when any item of information is attached to the work or appears in connection with the communication of the work or appears in connection with the communication of a work to the public.

Prima facie proof of copyright: admissible evidence may be provided in the form of an affidavit or statutory declaration made by or on behalf of any person claiming to be the owner of the copyright, the same also applies to a performer in a live performance under this Act stating that at the time specified therein the copyright/performer’s right had subsisted in such work and that he or the person named therein is the owner of the said copyright/performer. This affidavit or declaration is to be accompanied by copy of the work and for the performer, he is to provide written proof that he or the person named therein performed in the live performance.

Registration of copyright: there is no mandatory registration system for copyright in Malaysia. However, a copyright owner or an assignee of the copyright may submit a voluntary notification of copyright in any work to the Controller. This notification shall contain the following particulars: (1) the name, address and nationality of the owner of the copyright; (2) the category of the work; (3) the title of the work; (4) the name of the author and, if the author is dead, the date of the author's death, if known; (5) in the case of a published work, the date and place of the first publication; and (6) any other information as the Minister may determine. The Controller who shall keep and maintain the Register of Copyright may certify true extracts from the Register of Copyright which shall be prima facie evidence of the particulars entered therein and such certified extracts of the Register of Copyright shall be admissible in all courts.

Non-infringing acts: amongst which includes fair dealing for purposes of non-profit research, private study, criticism review or reporting of current events, parody, pastiche or caricature, inclusion in a film or broadcast of public artistic works, incidental inclusion of a work in an artistic work, sound recording film or broadcast, acts in relation to the use of copyright protected works for purposes of teaching and examination purpose and is compatible with fair practice, private and domestic use purposes, use of copyright protected work for charitable purposes or for purposes of court proceedings.

Criminal offences: the following acts, if committed without authorization during the subsistence of copyright in a work or performers right, shall be an offence that is to say: (1) making for sale and hire an infringing copy; (2) selling, letting for hire or by way of trade exposing or offering for sales or hire an infringing copy; (3) distributions of infringing copies; (4) possession of infringing copies otherwise than for private and domestic use; (5) by way of trade exhibiting in public any infringing copy; (6) importing infringing copies other than for private and domestic use; (7) making or possessing contrivances used or intended for making infringing copies; (8) circumventing or causing the circumvention of any technological measures; (9) removing or altering any electronic management information without authority; and (10) distributing, importing for distribution or communicating to the public without authority, works or copies of works in respect of which electronic rights management information has been removed or altered without authority. Further, pursuant to the amendments in force from March 18, 2022, new offences relating to streaming technology have been introduced into the Act under section 43AA.

Moral rights: moral rights relate to the right of the author or his personal representatives during the period of subsistence of copyright to prevent (a) the presentation of the work by any means whatsoever (e.g. without identifying the author or under a name other than that of the author); or (b) the distribution, mutilation or other modification of the work if the distortion, mutilation or modification sufficiently alters the work or is such that it might reasonably be regarded as adversely affecting the author’s honor and reputation.

Performers’ right: performers’ right relates to the exclusive right to control the (1) communication to the public of a live performance except where the live performance used in such communication is itself a live broadcast performance; (2) the fixation of an unfixed performance; (3) the reproduction of the fixation of a live performance if the fixation was unauthorized or the reproduction is made for an unauthorized purpose, different from those which the performer gave consent; (4) the first making available to the public of a fixation of a live performance or copies thereof through sales or other transfer of ownership; (5) rental to the public of a fixation of a live performance or copies thereof. The exclusive right of the performer is exhausted once he has given his authorization to the fixation of his live performance. The performer must be a citizen or permanent resident in Malaysia or if he were not a citizen or permanent resident, the performance must have taken place in Malaysia or is incorporated in sound recordings or has not been fixed in a sound recording but is included in a broadcast which qualifies for protection. Moral rights are equally available to a performer.

Licensing tribunal: there are licensing schemes operated by collective management organizations and royalty collecting agencies in relation to the copyright in literary works, musical works and sound recordings. They are primarily concerned with licenses for reproducing the work, performing, showing or playing the work in public, communicating or distributing the work to the public. Terms of the license, if cannot be agreed upon, may be referred to and settled by the Copyright Tribunal. The Tribunal may also grant translation rights.

Provisions for persons with a print disability: the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2022 introduces several provisions which concerns rights of persons with print disability and their caregivers under copyright law, in line with the Marrakesh Treaty. The provisions came into force on June 30, 2022.