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Copyright
Thirty questions and answers on the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 - what copyright protects, the economic and moral rights, how long they last, who owns them, the free uses the Act allows, the rights of performers, producers and broadcasters, enforcement, and the protection of expressions of folklore.
Copyright arises automatically, by the sole fact of creation. There is no register and no application. In Papua New Guinea it is governed by the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000, which protects literary and artistic works and derivative works, gives their authors a set of exclusive economic rights and a set of moral rights, and separately protects the performers, sound recording producers and broadcasting organisations whose work carries those creations to the public. The Act also does something most copyright statutes do not: it protects expressions of folklore - the group-oriented, tradition-based creations that reflect a community's cultural and social identity.
Jump to a subject
30 questions and answers, grouped by subject.
- What copyright is — 3 questions
- The rights of an author — 6 questions
- What you may do without permission — 9 questions
- Performers, producers and broadcasters — 5 questions
- Enforcing copyright — 5 questions
- Folklore and international treaties — 2 questions
What copyright is
What the Act protects, what it does not, derivative works and collections, and which works and people the Act applies to.
What Is Copyright in PNG?
An introduction to the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: what copyright is, the key definitions in section 2, and which works, performances, recordings and broadcasts the Act applies to.
Read the answer → No. 2What Works Are Protected by Copyright?
Section 4 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the ten categories of literary and artistic works, derivative works, and the rule that protection arises by the sole fact of creation.
Read the answer → No. 3What Is Not Protected by Copyright?
Section 5 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the idea-expression distinction, mere data, and the exclusion of official legal texts.
Read the answer →The rights of an author
The exclusive economic rights, moral rights, how long copyright lasts, who owns it, the presumption of authorship, and assignment and licensing.
What Are the Economic Rights of a Copyright Owner?
Section 6 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the ten exclusive economic rights, the exhaustion rule for distribution, the rental right, and the computer program exception.
Read the answer → No. 5What Are Moral Rights?
Section 7 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the four moral rights, their survival after transfer of the economic rights, transmission on death, and the requirements for a valid waiver.
Read the answer → No. 6How Long Does Copyright Last in PNG?
Section 17 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000, with sections 21 to 24: the duration of economic and moral rights, and of performers’, producers’ and broadcasters’ rights.
Read the answer → No. 7Who Owns Copyright in a Work?
Section 18 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: original ownership of the economic rights, joint authorship, collective works, employee works and audiovisual works.
Read the answer → No. 8Who Is Presumed to Be the Author?
Section 19 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the presumption of authorship, pseudonyms, and the publisher’s presumed authority to enforce an anonymous author’s rights.
Read the answer → No. 9How Is Copyright Assigned or Licensed?
Section 20 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: assignment and licensing of economic rights, the writing requirement, and the rule that unmentioned rights are not transferred.
Read the answer →What you may do without permission
Private copies, temporary reproductions, quotations, teaching, libraries, news reporting, computer programs, personal imports and public display.
Can I Copy a Work for Personal Use?
Section 8 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the private copying exception and its five exclusions.
Read the answer → No. 11Are Temporary Digital Copies an Infringement?
Section 9 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the exception for temporary reproductions made in digital transmission and playback.
Read the answer → No. 12Can I Quote From a Work?
Section 10 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the quotation exception, the fair practice and proportionality limits, and the attribution requirement.
Read the answer → No. 13Can Teachers Copy Works for Class?
Section 11 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the two teaching exceptions, the isolated-act and no-licence conditions, and the attribution requirement.
Read the answer → No. 14Can Libraries and Archives Copy Works?
Section 12 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: reprographic reproduction by public institutions for readers and for preservation.
Read the answer → No. 15Can the Media Reproduce Works Without Permission?
Section 13 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the news and informatory exceptions, the reservation of rights, and the attribution requirement.
Read the answer → No. 16Can I Copy a Computer Program?
Section 14 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the computer program exception for lawful owners, its two permitted purposes, and the destruction obligation.
Read the answer → No. 17Can I Import a Copy of a Work?
Section 15 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the personal importation exception, the scope of the importation right, and the customs provisions in section 26(3).
Read the answer → No. 18Can a Work Be Displayed Publicly?
Section 16 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the public display exception, the exclusion of screen-based display, and the requirement that the copy has been published or transferred.
Read the answer →Performers, producers and broadcasters
The rights of performers, producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organisations, equitable remuneration, and the limits on those rights.
What Rights Do Performers Have?
Section 21 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the performer’s exclusive rights, the audiovisual fixation rule, performers’ moral rights, freedom to contract, and the 50-year term.
Read the answer → No. 20What Rights Does a Sound Recording Producer Have?
Section 22 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the producer’s exclusive rights in a sound recording, who the producer is, and the term of protection.
Read the answer → No. 21Do You Have to Pay to Play a Sound Recording in Public?
Section 23 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the equitable remuneration right for broadcasting and public performance of commercial sound recordings, the 50-50 split, and the deemed publication rule for online availability.
Read the answer → No. 22What Rights Does a Broadcaster Have?
Section 24 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the broadcasting organisation’s rights in its broadcast, what a broadcast is, and how the right differs from copyright in the programme.
Read the answer → No. 23What Are the Limits on Neighbouring Rights?
Section 25 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the four limitations on the rights of performers, sound recording producers and broadcasting organisations.
Read the answer →Enforcing copyright
Injunctions and impounding, damages and destruction orders, the criminal offence, and the rules against circumvention devices and tampering with rights management information.
What Orders Can a Court Make to Stop Infringement?
Section 26 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: conservatory and provisional measures, and the application of the Criminal Code search and seizure and Customs Act illegal goods provisions.
Read the answer → No. 25What Can I Claim for Copyright Infringement?
Section 27 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: damages, the innocent infringer limit, destruction of copies and implements, the good faith purchaser protection, and cease orders.
Read the answer → No. 26Is Copyright Infringement a Crime?
Section 28 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the criminal offence, its mental and purpose elements, the penalty, and the application of civil remedies in criminal proceedings.
Read the answer → No. 27Is It Illegal to Break Copy Protection?
Section 29 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: circumvention devices, decoders for encrypted programmes, rights management information, and their assimilation to infringement.
Read the answer → No. 28Who Can Sue for Copyright Infringement?
A practical guide to bringing a copyright claim in PNG: who has standing, what must be proved, the presumptions available, and the remedies under sections 26 to 29.
Read the answer →Folklore and international treaties
How expressions of folklore are protected, who authorises their use, and how international treaties apply in Papua New Guinea.
How Is Folklore Protected in PNG?
Sections 30 and 31 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: what an expression of folklore is, the protected acts, the exceptions, the source-attribution rule, the competent authority, and the offence.
Read the answer → No. 30Do International Copyright Treaties Apply in PNG?
Sections 3, 32, 33 and 34 of the PNG Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000: the application of international treaties, the priority rule, foreign works and right holders, regulations, and the repeal of the 1978 Act.
Read the answer →Acts are amended, and figures and time limits change. Every article names the sections it relies on so you can read them. 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.