What does Copyright mean?

According to the proclamation of Copyright and Neighboring Rights, 410/2004; Copyright means an economic right subsisting in a work and where appropriate includes moral right of an author.

   What types of works are protected by copyright?

    Based on the proclamation of 410/2004; these are lists of works that protected by copyright:

• books, booklets, articles in reviews and newspaper, computer programs;
• speeches, lectures, addresses, sermons, and other oral works,
• dramatic, dramatico-musical works, pantomimes, chirographic works, and other works created for stage production;
• computer programs;
• musical compositions;
• audiovisual works;
• works of architecture;
• works of drawing, painting, sculpture, engraving, lithography, tapestry, and other works of fine arts;
• photographic works;
• illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, and three dimensional works related to geography, topography, architecture or science;

   What are the requirements of copyright?

    The work must be original and it has to be fixed in a tangible form of expression.

   Which works are not protected by copyright?

• any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, formula numerical tables and forms of general use, principle, discovery or mere date, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; and
• any official text of a legislative, administrative or of legal nature, as well as official translations thereof.

   What does neighboring rights mean?

• Neighboring rights means the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings, broadcasting organizations over their works.

   What are the rights of copyright holder?

• reproduction of the work;
• translation of the work;
• adaptation, arrangement or other transformation of the work;
• distribution of the original or a copy of the work to the public by sale or rental;
• importation of original or copies of the work;
• public display of the original or a copy of the work;
• performance of the work;
• broadcasting of the work;
• Other communication of the work to the public.

   What are moral rights?

     Based on the proclamation of 410/2004; the author of the work shall have the following moral rights irrespective of whether or not he/she is owner of economic rights;

• to claim authorship of his/her work, except where the work is included, incidentally or accidentally, in reporting current events by means of broadcasting;
• to remain anonyms or to use a pseudonym; and
• to object any distortion, mutilation or other alteration of his work, where such an act is or would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation;
• To publish his work.

   Neighboring rights:

• Rights of Performers;
• a performer have the exclusive right to carry out or authorize the broadcasting or other communication to the public of his performance;
• the fixation of his unfixed performance;
• the reproduction of a fixation of his performance, in any manner or form;
• making available the first fixation of his performance, or copies thereof;
• rental or public lending of a fixation of his performance, or copies thereof irrespective of the ownership of the copy rented or lent;
• Making his fixed performance available to the public by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may have access to them from a place or at a time individually chosen by them.
• Moral rights of performers;
• to be identified as the performer as regards his live performances, the performances fixed in sound recordings;
• Object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performances fixed in sound recordings.

   Rights of sound recording producers:

• Reproduction of  his sound recordings in any manner or form;
• Importation of copies of his sound recordings;
• Distribution to the public the original or copies of his sound recordings that have not already been subject to a distribution authorized by the producer, by sale or other means of transfer of owner ship;
• Rental or lending to the public a copy of the sound recording, irrespective of the owner ship of the copy rented or lent;
• Making available to the public of a sound recording. By wire or wireless means, in such a way that member of the public may have access to it from a place or at a time individually chosen by them.

    Rights of broadcasting organizations

• Rebroadcasting of its broadcasts;
• Fixation of its broadcasts;
• Reproduction of fixation of its broadcasts.

   Ways of Assigning and Licensing of copyright and related rights:

• There are two ways
• Economic rights may be assigned or licensed in whole or in part;
• The rights can be transferred in accordance with the law to heirs or legatees.

   Duration of copyright and related rights:

      According to the proclamation 410/2004;

• Copyrights belong to the author during his lifetime and to the heirs or legatees for 50(fifty) years from the death of the author;
• The economic rights in relation to a photographic works lasts for 25 (twenty five) years;
• The economic rights in relation to broadcasting works are protected from the moment the broadcast takes place until the expiry of 20 (twenty) years following the year in which the broadcast took place.

   Types of copyright infringements:

• Selling or reproducing once work without consent or without knowing of copyright owners;
• Collecting and coping once work without permission.

   What are The Legal Penalties for Copyright Infringement?

      According to the Copyright and Related Rights Proclamation of 410/2004 and its amendment 872/2014, there are two types of penalties;

• civil remedies
• The amount of compensation for moral damage determined based on the extent of the damage and not be less than birr 100,000 (birr one hundred thousand).
• Criminal sanctions
• whosoever intentionally violates a protected right will punished with rigorous imprisonment for 5-10 years and pays in the range from 25,000 (birr twenty five thousand) to 50,000 (birr fifty thousand);
• whosoever by gross negligence violates a protected right will punished with rigorous imprisonment for 1-5 years and pays in the range from 5,00(birr five thousand) to 25,000 (birr twenty five thousand);
• including seizure, forfeiture and destruction of the infringing goods and of any materials and implements used in the commission of the offence;