Copyright Law

Purpose and scope

• Protects the rights of authors of literary, artistic and scientific works, including books, software, audiovisual works and photographs, and sets moral and economic rights, terms of protection, exceptions and penalties.
• It is administered by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property and replaced the previous copyright law (Article 27).

Key rules, rights and obligations

• The author has inalienable moral rights, including attribution, objecting to harmful changes, and withdrawing the work from circulation against compensation (Articles 8 and 10).
• The author or his delegate has exclusive economic rights to reproduce, translate, publish, perform, broadcast, rent and otherwise exploit the work (Article 9).
• Copyright may pass in whole or part by inheritance or disposal (Article 11), and heirs are bound by the author's contracts (Article 14).
• Allowed without permission: copying for personal use except software and audio and audiovisual works, reasonable quotation with the source named, and non-profit educational use within its purpose (Article 15).
• Term: the author's life plus fifty years; fifty years from first publication for software, films and collective works; twenty-five years for applied art and photographs (Article 19).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• Infringement includes: publishing a work without permission, changing it without consent, reprinting without consent, breaking electronic protection, commercial use of pirated software, and importing or keeping counterfeit works on business premises (Article 21).
• Penalties: a warning, a fine of up to SAR 250,000, closure of the business for up to two months, confiscation of copies and materials, or up to six months' imprisonment, or more than one (Article 22).
• Common problems: using images or clips from the internet in advertising without a licence, running unlicensed software in companies, and copying books at print shops.

Procedures and key deadlines

• A violations committee decision may be challenged before the competent judicial body within sixty days of notification (Article 23).
• Officers of the competent authority detect violations and inspect businesses and warehouses (Article 24).
• Document ownership and creation date of a work, and put publishing and production contracts in clear writing (Article 13).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.