Copyright in Papua New Guinea is governed by the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000, which repealed the Copyright Act 1978 (s 34).
Section 4(2) — protection is automatic
Works eligible for copyright are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of the mode or form of expression, content, quality or purpose.
A trade mark is protected because it is registered under the Trade Marks Act (Chapter 385). Copyright is protected because the work exists. There is no Copyright Office, no application, no examination, no renewal.
“Irrespective of ... content, quality or purpose” means the Act does not judge merit. A crudely drawn logo, a badly written manual and a commercially worthless photograph are protected on the same terms as anything else, provided they are original intellectual creations.
The practical consequence is evidential. Because nothing is registered, a copyright owner who has to prove ownership relies on section 19 — the presumption from a name appearing on the work — and on dated records of creation.
Section 2 — the definitions that matter
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Author | The person who has created the work |
| Work | Any literary, artistic or derivative work eligible for copyright under section 4 |
| Audiovisual work | A series of related images imparting the impression of motion, with or without accompanying sounds |
| Sound recording | Any exclusively aural fixation of sounds — not the sound-track of an audiovisual work |
| Computer program | A set of instructions in words, codes, schemes or any other form capable, when incorporated in a machine-readable medium, of causing a computer to perform a task |
| Photographic work | A recording of light or other radiation on any medium, by any technique — but not a still extracted from an audiovisual work |
| Work of joint authorship | A work two or more authors contributed to, that is not a collective work |
| Collective work | Created by the collective contribution of two or more persons at the initiative and under the direction of another, to be disclosed under that other’s name, the contributors not being identified |
| Work of applied art | An artistic creation with utilitarian functions or incorporated in a useful article, by hand or on an industrial scale |
| Producer | The person or entity that undertakes the initiative and responsibility for making an audiovisual work or sound recording |
| Performers | Includes singers, musicians and others who sing, deliver, declaim, play in or otherwise perform literary and artistic works or expressions of folklore |
| Published | Tangible copies made available to the public in a reasonable quantity for sale, rental, public lending or other transfer — with consent |
| Fixation | The embodiment of sounds or their representations from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated through a device |
| Court | The National Court |
“Communication to the public” and “public performance” both turn on the same phrase: persons outside the normal circle of a family and its closest social acquaintances. That is the boundary between private and public use throughout the Act. Note that it does not matter whether people receive the work at the same place and time or at different places or times individually chosen by them — on-demand streaming is squarely within it.
“Rental” is transfer of possession for a limited period for profit-making purposes; “public lending” is the same thing for non-profit purposes by a public institution in the normal course of its services. The distinction matters for section 6(1)(e).
“Rights management information” is the electronic data identifying the author, work, performer, producer, broadcaster or owner, and the terms of use — protected by section 29.
Section 3 — who and what the Act protects
(a) works of authors who are citizens of, or have their habitual residence in, Papua New Guinea;
(b) works first published in Papua New Guinea, and works first published elsewhere and also published in Papua New Guinea within thirty days, irrespective of the nationality or residence of their authors;
(c) audiovisual works whose producer has his headquarters or habitual residence here;
(d) works of architecture erected here, and other artistic works incorporated in a building or structure located here.
Performers: citizens of Papua New Guinea; and non-citizens whose performances take place here, are incorporated in sound recordings protected under the Act, or are included in protected broadcasts.
Sound recordings: where the producer is a citizen, or the recording was first fixed or first published here.
Broadcasts: of organisations headquartered here, or transmitted from transmitters situated here.
Sections 3(4) and 3(8) extend the Act to anything eligible for protection by virtue of any international convention or agreement to which Papua New Guinea is party — and under section 32, where a treaty conflicts with the Act, the treaty prevails.
Section 3(1) and (2) — works existing when the Act commenced
(1) The Act applies to works, performances, sound recordings and broadcasts existing at its coming into operation — provided the terms of protection have not expired under any Act, or under the law of the country of origin where protection is required by an international treaty.
(2) Nothing in the Act constitutes a breach of, or default under, or terminates an agreement or obligation under a contract concerning works, performances, recordings or broadcasts concluded or existing at its commencement.
Section 1 — the constitutional declaration
The Act declares itself to relate to a matter of national interest for the purposes of the Organic Laws on Provincial Governments, and states that, to the extent it regulates or restricts the qualified rights in Subdivision III.3.C of the Constitution — freedom from arbitrary search and entry (s 44), freedom of expression (s 46), freedom of employment (s 48) and privacy (s 49) — it is a law made for the purpose of giving effect to the public interest in public welfare.
That declaration matters. Copyright is a restriction on what other people may say, copy and publish, and the Act is candid about it. The listed rights are the ones engaged by section 26, which allows impounding of copies and implements and applies the search and seizure provisions of the Criminal Code Act (Chapter 262).
Sources
- Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 — ss 1–6, 19, 26, 29, 32, 34
- Trade Marks Act (Chapter 385); Criminal Code Act (Chapter 262)
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.