– Montenegrin Copyright and Related Rights Law, passed on July 12, 2011, published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 31/2011 of July 29, 2010, in force since August 6, 2011, with amendments published in the Official Gazette No. 53/2016 of August 11, 2016, in force since August 19, 2016, and amendments published in the Official Gazette No. 145/2021 of December 31, 2021, in force since January 8, 2022.
– Decree on Ensurance of IP Protection, published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 61/2007 of October 12, 2007, in force since October 20, 2007, with amendments published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 70/2008, and amendments published in the Official Gazette No. 145/2021 of December 31, 2021, in force since January 8, 2022.
– By-laws regulating application of the Trademark Law will be adopted within six months from the date of coming into force of the Trademark Law. Until then, the by-laws adopted on the basis of the previous Trademark Law (Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro No. 61/04 and 07/05) shall continue to be applied, unless they are contrary to the current Trademark Law.
– Regulation on the Procedure for the deposit and recording of copyright works and objects of related rights, published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 30/2012 dated June 8, 2012.

Membership in International Conventions

– Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, since June 3, 2006.
– Universal Copyright Convention, since May 11, 1966 as Yugoslavia, continues in Montenegro as of June 3, 2006.
– WIPO Copyright Treaty, since June 13, 2003 as Serbia and Montenegro, continues in Montenegro as of June 3, 2006.
– WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, since June 13, 2003 as Serbia and Montenegro, continues in Montenegro as of June 3, 2006.
– WTO's TRIPS Agreement, since April 29, 2012.
– Marrakesh Treaty, since June 8, 2022.

Filing

Applicant: individuals (domestic or foreign). 

Registrability: copyright is registrable, registration is voluntary not compulsory. Benefits of registration is that it constitutes evidence of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the registration certificate which can be important in copyright infringement case. Copyright is considered as individual spiritual creations in the field of literature, science and art, which is expressed in a certain way. In particular, works of authorship shall be deemed to be speech acts (lectures, speeches, etc.), written works (novels, poetry, articles, manuals, studies, monographs, computer programs, etc.), musical acts, with or without words, drama, drama-music, choreographic, puppet and pantomimic works, photographic works and works created in a process similar to photography, audiovisual works, works of fine art (drawings, graphics, paintings, sculptures, etc.), works of architecture (sketches, plans, built objects from the field of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture, etc.), works of applied arts and industrial design, cartographic works (tourist maps, car maps, topographic maps, thematic maps, etc.), presentations of scientific, teaching or technical nature (technical drawings, plans, standards, expert expertise, three-dimensional presentations, etc.). 

Not registrable (not considered as copyright): ideas, principles and discoveries, official texts in the field of legislation, administration and judiciary, official translations, expressions of traditional culture, daily news or other data, which have the character of ordinary media information.

Filing requirements for copyright holder (to be sent to resident agent):
1. A copy of the protection object with a detailed description of the contents of the subject of protection;
2. Name of the author;
3. Information on whether the original work was created during the employment;
4. Power of attorney, simply signed; no notarization or legalization is required (can be filed subsequently).

Protection

Examination: formal examination as to completeness and formal requirements. 

Registration: after having established that the work fulfills the conditions for copyright protection, the IP Office issues a certificate of deposit. 

Appeals: the decision of the IP Office cannot be appealed, but it is possible to initiate a lawsuit with the Commercial Court. 

Delivery of document: approximately within ten days from the date of deposit. 

Beginning of protection: copyright protection automatically subsists the moment the copyrighted work was created. 

Duration: 70 years from the day the work was created except for rights of film producers, interpreters and  the rights of a broadcasting organization where the duration of protection is 50 years from the day the work was created. 

Renewals: only if the work is deposited, every 10 years. 

Owner's rights - moral rights: right of authorship, right to be named, right of disclosure, right of protection of the work's integrity, right to oppose unbecoming exploitation of the work. 

Pecuniary rights: right to reproduce, right to place in circulation copies of the work, right to rent copies of the work, right to perform, right to present, right to transmit performance or presentation, right to broadcast, right of re-broadcasting, right to adapt, arrange or alter the work in some other manner, right to communicate a broadcasted work to the public, right to communicate a work from a sound or picture carrier to the public. 

Exhaustion of distribution rights: the right of distribution has been exhausted for the territory of Montenegro with regard to the original and copies of the works, if the first sale or other transfer of property to that object in Montenegro was carried out by the right holder or with his permission. 

Limitation of copyright: it is allowed, without the permission of the author and without payment of remuneration to the author, temporary reproduction of the author's work, if reproduction is transient or incidental, reproduction constitutes an integral or important part of the technological process, the exclusive purpose of reproduction is to enable the transmission of data in a computer network between two or more persons through intermediaries or other use in accordance with the law, if the reproduction does not have independent economic significance, when informing on daily events to reproduce the works that are watched or heard after the event, prepare and reproduce summaries of published newspaper or similar articles in the form of press reports, use political speeches, as well as extracts from public lectures and similar works, if reproduction is done on paper or other similar means using a suitable photographic technique or another a procedure with similar effects, by another means if copying is done for private use (if there are no copies available to the public, and if reproduction is not carried out for the purpose of direct or indirect property gain), if reproduction is done by public archives, libraries, museums and educational or research institutions on any means (if reproduction is made from a specimen owned by that legal entity for internal use and provided that it is not carried out for the purpose of direct or indirect property gain), unless the reproduction referred to above relates to whole books, musical notes, electronic databases, computer programs, as well as the construction of architectural objects and on the basis of copies that have been unlawfully multiplied or made available to the public. It is permitted use of a quotation of the published work in another main work, if the quote is used for criticism, confirmation or reference, it is permitted to use the published copyright work for the public safety of Montenegro, as well as to conduct proceedings before judicial or other state bodies, or arbitration, it is permitted to use works permanently exposed in parks, streets, squares and other public places (works must not be duplicated in a three-dimensional form, used for the same purpose in which is original work used for the purpose of achieving direct or indirect property gain). The authorized user of the published database or its multiplied copy can freely multiply and adapt that database if that is necessary for the access to its contents and the regular use of that contents. If the user is authorized just for the part of that database, he is allowed to multiply or adapt just that part. The organizer of a public exhibition or public sale of works of art may, without the acquisition of an appropriate property right and without payment of compensation, use those works for the purpose and extent necessary for the advertising and promotion of such events, without any direct or indirect property gain. It is allowed, without the permission of the author and without payment of remuneration to the author, for the non-commercial purposes of education to perform publicly or represent the published works in the shape of direct presentation of a lecture in the process of tuition, public performance or representation of the published works at the school festivals providing the interpreters are not given compensation for their performance and the entrance is not charged, communication to the public of the broadcasted school emissions by means of technical devices internally within the educational establishment. Without the permission of the author, and with the obligation of payment the remuneration for copyright, it is allowed to use the parts of a published work for teaching purposes, according to a public educational program or scientific research, in readers and textbooks, use of a single published work in the field of photography, fine arts, architecture, applied art, industrial design and cartography for public education program or scientific research, if it concerns published works of several different authors, it is allowed to reproduce in printed media or in the form of a press release (clippings) published articles, broadcast works and acts of similar character on current economic, political or religious issues, if these rights are not explicitly reserved. Reproduction and re-broadcasting of programs within public institutions, such as student dorms, hospitals or schools prisons, if done without direct or indirect property gain is also allowed with the obligation of payment. It is allowed for a disabled person to use adaptation of a work if the work is not available in the required form, to use a work if it directly refers to the special needs of the person, and if the use is limited to the scope of special needs, if there is direct or indirect property gain. It is also allowed to use the work, without acquiring appropriate property rights, and without payment of compensation, during celebrations organized by the state body or the competent body of the capital or municipality, or local government body during public holidays, if the use of these acts does not result in direct or indirect material gain. It is allowed to use the work during celebrations organized by a state authority or a competent authority of the capital city or a local self-government unit on the occasion of holidays established by the law regulating state and other holidays, without acquiring the corresponding property right and without paying compensation. if the use of those works does not result in direct or indirect financial gain.

Transfer of copyright: the author may transfer all rights except the author's moral rights. 

Licensing: the licensing of pecuniary rights may be either exclusive or non-exclusive. In the case of exclusive licensing of pecuniary rights, only the licensee shall be authorized to exploit the work of authorship in the way stipulated by contract, as well as to license such rights to somebody else, with the author's or his/her successor's special permission. In the case of non-exclusive licensing of pecuniary rights, the licensee shall not be authorized neither to prohibit somebody else from exercising the copyright nor to license his/her right to somebody else. 

Work of authorship created as an employee: if an author has created a work as an employee in the performance of his/her duties, the employer shall be authorized to disclose such work and to hold exclusive pecuniary rights on its exploitation within the scope of the employer's registered business for a period of five years from completion of that work, unless otherwise provided by a general regulation or employment contract. Upon the expiration of the five-year term, the author shall acquire the exclusive pecuniary rights to the work. If the work of authorship is a computer program, the permanent holder of all exclusive pecuniary rights on such work shall be the employer, unless otherwise provided for in the contract. 

Amendment of deposited object: a new request is submitted for changing the content of the deposited object of protection. 

Copyright infringement: in case of violation of copyright under the law, the rightholder may file a lawsuit and request, particularly the determination of the infringement of a right, termination of the infringement of a right, destruction or alteration of the objects instrumental to the infringement on rights, including copies of the subject matter of protection, their packaging, stencils, negatives and the like, destruction or alteration of the tools and equipment that has been used for production of the objects instrumental to the infringement of rights, if so necessary for the protection of rights, compensation for material damages, publication of the court decision at the defendant's expense. 

Interim measures: at the request of a holder of the right who makes it credible that his/her copyright or related right has been infringed on or will be infringed on, the court may order a provisional measure involving the seizure or removal from the market of the object with which the infringement is made and/or a provisional measure involving a prohibition against the acts under way, which could be conducive to infringement. 

Measure to secure evidence: at the request of the holder of the right who makes it credible that his/her copyright or related right has been infringed, or that such infringement is imminent or that irreparable harm is likely to occur, as well as that there is justified apprehension that the evidence of that will be destroyed or that it will not be possible to obtain later on, the court may order a measure to secure evidence without giving prior notice to or hearing the person from which evidence is to be collected.