Lebanon

Mon, 28/12/2009 - 16:37 — Mohammed Darwish

Legal background

Copyright legislation	Law number 75 issued on 3rd of April 1999 ("CA 75/99") From http://www.economy.gov.lb/MOET/English/Panel/IPR/Copyright/Documents/CopyRight_E...
Other relevant laws	Communications Law 431 ("Law 431/2001") From http://www.tra.gov.lb/Telecom-Law-431-2002
Copyright treaties	Berne Convention	Rome Convention	Berne Appendix	TRIPS	WCT	WPPT
Other relevant treaties

Scope and duration of copyright

Is the period of protection of each type of copyright work limited to the minimum duration mandated by the Berne Convention?	YES
Must a work be fixed in some material form before copyright attaches?	YES Mere ideas are not protected by the Lebanese Law, they should be fixed in a material form.	Article 4 of CA 75/99
Is the exercise of copyright subject to competition law, for example by compulsory licensing or regulation of royalties in the case of copyright holders who misuse their monopoly power?	LIMITED Until now, a Competition Law hasn't been issued in Lebanon, although many organizations, among them Consumers Lebanon, are pushing for such a law. The Lebanese Law includes provisions preventing domination of the market.
Is the exercise of copyright subject to compliance with a bill of rights or similar human rights instrument, for example by preventing copyright from being used to stifle protected speech?	NO Freedom of speech and the press are maintained by the Lebanese Constitution.
Does the compilation of a database of non-original material fall outside the scope of copyright?	NO Copyright law protects "collections of literary or artistic works and compilations of data, whether in machine-readable or other form, provided that they are authorized by the copyright holder or his public or private successors and that by reason of the selection and arrangement of their contents they constitute intellectual creations."	Pargraph 2 of article 3 of CA 75/99
Do exceptions and limitations in national copyright law prevail over contracts purporting to limit or override them?	LIMITED The CA 75/99 states that contracts should be in writing and for a certain period of time, if a period is not mentioned than it will be considered ten years. It also states that the author should have a percentage of the profit, and that contracting on future works is considered void. There are some obligatory rights to the author, such as having his name on his works, or setting the way his work is published, also giving him the right to withdraw from contracts if it is necessary to maintain his reputation. Moral rights can't be licensed.	Articles 17 to 21 of CA 75/99

Freedoms to access and use

By Home Users	Is there a general exception for the fair use of copyright material for any purpose that satisfies a set of balancing criteria?	LIMITED The CA 75/99 has made exceptions regarding computer programs, copying small parts of books, right to quote, right to use parts of copyrighted material for criticism, and most of all article 23 has authorized individuals to make copies for personal use of any copyrighted material without permission or payment to the author.	Article 23 of CA 75/99
	Is time, space and format shifting allowed (such as ripping music from CD to an MP3 player)?	LIMITED This issue has not been addressed by the law, although the law allowed making ONE copy for personal use of any work, but didn't specify shifting.
	Can consumers reproduce copyright material for their own use in the original format, for example for backup purposes?	YES
	Can works be communicated to a limited public (for example, family and friends) without infringing copyright?	LIMITED The law has addressed issues of making a copy of a copyrighted material for personal use, these copies can not be communicated, while original copyrighted materials can be communicated to a limited public such as family.
	Does a collective licensing scheme permit the copying or sharing of copyright material by consumers in exchange for a media or equipment levy?	NO
For Education	Is reproduction permitted for the purposes of research or study?	LIMITED Reproduction of computer softwares is allowed to be put under the disposal of students for educational purposes. For other works, a limited part of any legally published work can be reproduced for educational purposes. Non profit Public libraries can make a copy just for backup reasons.	Article 25
	Does any such research and study provision cover distance and online education?	LIMITED This issue hasn't been clearley addressed but in the chapter of definitions, the phrase "Communication to the public" is defined as making the work available to the public by wire or wireless transmission of sounds and/or images, in such a way as to allow the public to hear or view the work at a distance from the broadcasting center. This includes making the work available to the public by wire or wireless means (like the internet) in such a way that every person may access it from a place and at a time chosen by them.
	May translations of works be made for educational purposes?	LIMITED The law allows just a limited section of a work to be reproduced for educational purposes, and doesn't specify the form of reproduction.
	May works be reproduced and published by educational institutions in connection with systematic instructional activities?	LIMITED Just a limited part can be reproduced for educational purposes.
Online	Is hyperlinking to a Web site allowed without permission of the site's owner?	LIMITED Issue not addressed by the law.
	Are temporary or transient copies, incidental to a lawful use, excepted from copyright?	LIMITED Issue not addressed by the law.
	Are ISPs protected from liability for infringements by third parties, because the law either does not impose liability upon intermediaries or limits their liability in certain circumstances?	YES The law doesnt impose any liability on intermediaries, and usually ISP's contracts include a no liability clause.
	Do ISPs provide Internet access without conducting filtering or monitoring for potential copyright-infringing material?	YES In Lebanon there is no real monitoring over the internet, one can access any webiste available.
	Are the names and personal information of customers who are alleged to have engaged in copyright-infringing behaviour protected from disclosure by their ISPs?	NO The law provides that "Controllers and inspectors may enter all public and private properties where necessary in the execution of their official duties, in order to inspect or collect information related to existing or planned facilities on installations, review records and documents and extract copies thereof, and request presentation of any useful document or information..." Thus law enforcement authorities have entry to data of any ISP, besides there is no law in Lebanon that protects privacy of personl information such as in France.	Article 38 of Law 431/2001
By content creators	Can copyright works be non-commercially remixed or mashed up into new works?	LIMITED Only for private use.
	May computer software be reverse engineered for the purpose of creating interoperable software?	NO
	Is the incidental inclusion of a work in other material permitted?	YES For example artistic works can be included in catalogues without the permission of the copyright holder.	Article 34 of CA 75/99
	Is there are copyright exception for parody or satire?	YES A part of a copyrighted material can be used for parody or criticism.
	Do creators who license their work retain the moral right of attribution?	YES
By the press	Is there a copyright exception for the news of the day?	YES News of the day is not copyrighted.
	May copyright material be reproduced for the purposes of review and criticism?	YES Article 25 addressed this issue generally without specifying the press.	Article 25 of CA 75/99
	May political speeches, speeches in judicial proceedings and/or other public speeches be used for any purpose?	YES They can be used, but only the author has the right can publish his speeches in a book.
	May quotations be used for any purpose?	YES
By Libraries	May libraries copy works that cannot reasonably be obtained commercially?	LIMITED This matter is not addressed by the law.
	May libraries copy works for users for the purpose of research or study?	LIMITED Computer software can be copied and lent to students for educational purposes. On the other hand, only a small part of other kinds of copyrighted materials, can be copied, ie copying large sections of books is not permitted.
	Are libraries allowed to make preservation or archive copies of materials in their collections?	YES
	In making permitted copies, are libraries entitled to circumvent technological protection mechanisms (TPMs)?	LIMITED This issue is not addressed by the law.
By disabled users	Is it permissible to copy or adapt work for the use of those with disabilities?	LIMITED Issue of disabled users is not addressed by the law.
In public affairs	Are laws excluded from copyright?	YES
	Are other governmental works excluded from copyright?	YES All decrees, governmental desicions are excluded from copyright.
	Is there a copyright exception for use of material in judicial proceedings?	YES
	Are the results of publicly funded research required to be published under an open access license?	YES

Freedoms to share and transfer

Administration and enforcement

What is the maximum penalty for copyright infringement for an individual?	Limited to compensation (unless it is for commercial purposes than it is $33000)	Article 84
What is the maximum penalty for copyright infringement for a corporation?	$33000	Article 86 of CA 75/99
Do the penalties for copyright infringement distinguish between personal versus (large-scale) commercial use, other than at the discretion of a judge?	YES Article 86 states "Any person who, knowingly and with intent to make a profit, infringes or attempts to infringe copyright...", while article 84 states that " Any person who infringes copyright or a related right shall be required to pay fair compensation to the right holder..."; thus the CA code differentiates between personal versus commercial use.	Articles 84 and 86 of CA 75/99
Is the creation or distribution of devices that can circumvent technological protection measures (TPM) permitted, where such devices can be used for purposes that would not infringe copyright?	LIMITED
Is the use of such devices by consumers permitted for any purpose that would not infringe copyright?	YES
Does national copyright or consumer protection law require disclosure to consumers of the existence of TPMs and any potential limitations on the use of TPM-protected material?	NO
Are the operations of copyright collectives subject to public oversight?	NO
Are ISPs independent of copyright owners, to the extent that no law or industry code of conduct requires them to notify their users who are alleged to have committed a copyright infringement online?	YES
Are criminal sanctions limited to cases of large-scale commercial counterfeiting?	LIMITED The law addresses anyone who counterfeits, without limiting it to large scale commercial counterfeiting. On the other hand, article 86 states that "Any person who, knowingly and with intent to make a profit, infringes or attempts to infringe copyright...", thus it is limiting it to infringements of large scale.	Article 85 of CA 75/99
Are damages for copyright infringement based on the loss sustained, rather than by a pre-established or statutory damages award?	YES	Article 84 of CA 75/99
Is there provision to penalise the wrongful allegation of copyright infringement?	LIMITED In the Lebanese Penal code, anyone who has been wrongfully accused can file a lawsuit of defamation and ask for indemnity.

Conclusions

The CA 75/99 hasn't addressed many of the issues of copyrights, and should be updated and modified to be more consumer friendly. The stringency of the law has been the result of pressure of some of the strongest companies in the world that were losing money due to the piracy in Lebanon, for example Microsoft.

Balancing this, however, Lebanon does have a broad private use exception (albeit limited to one copy), that unlike the similar exceptions in Europe, is not recompensed by a levy.

A Law that addresses Patents has been issued in 1924 upon the French Occupation of Lebanon, and is considered very old and needs updating.

The CA 75/99 should be mandated to be more consumer friendly and to address new issues that arise as a result of modern technology.

This work is licensed under a Attribution Share Alike Creative Commons license

May copyright works be freely offered for commercial rental?	NO Only the author has the right to sell or rent his work.	Article 15 of CA 75/99
Does the law permit a work to be released to the public domain before the copyright term expires, without any formality other than an overt act of relinquishment?	LIMITED This issue hasn't been addressed clearly but the law states that "The economic rights of the author shall be considered as movable rights and may be transferred in whole or in part."	Article 16 of CA 75/99
Are orphaned works treated differently in the law to other copyright works, for example by allowing them to be compulsorily licenced, limiting remedies, or by releasing them into the public domain?	LIMITED The CA 75/99 hasn't clearly addressed orphaned works, but in general, regarding anonymous and pseudonymous works, the natural person who, or legal entity which published the work shall be considered the author. However should the identity of the author be revealed, he himself shall exercise these rights.
Is parallel importation permitted?	NO The copyright holder shall have the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit the importation of copies of the work manufactured abroad.	Article 15 of CA 75/99
Are there incentives for the use, production and dissemination of free and open source software within copyright law or elsewhere in national law/policy?	NO
Are there incentives for the use, production and dissemination of open access material (e.g. textbooks) within copyright law or elsewhere in national law / policy?	NO
Are there specifications or incentives in national law/policy for the use of open document formats?	NO