Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Part 1: Copyright Work

Copyright works by virtue of this Act mean a work of authorship in the categories of literary, dramatic, artistic, musical, audiovisual, cinematographic, sound recording, sound and video broadcasting work or any other works in the literary, scientific or artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression.

Copyright protection shall not extend to any idea or procedure, process or system or method of use, operation or concept, principle, discovery or scientific or mathematical theories.

The followings are not deemed copyright works by virtue of this Act:

• news of the day and facts having the character of mere information which is not a work in literary, scientific or artistic domain;
• constitutions and legislations;
• regulations, rules, announcements, orders, explanations and official correspondence of the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units, judicial decisions, orders, rulings and official reports;
• translation and compilation of those in (1) to (4) made by the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units.

Part 2: Acquisition of Copyright

The author of a work is the owner of copyright in the work of authorship subject to the following conditions:

• In the case of unpublished work, the author must be a Thai national or reside in Thailand or be a national of or reside in a country which is a member of the Convention for the protection of copyright of which Thailand is a member provided that the residence must be at all time or most of the time spent on the creation of the work.
• In the case of published work, the first publication must be made in Thailand or in a country which is a member of the Convention for the copyright protection of which Thailand is a member, or in the case the first publication is made outside Thailand or in a country which is not member of the Convention for the copyright protection of which Thailand is a member, if the publication of the said work is subsequently made in Thailand or in a country which is member of the Convention for the copyright protection of which Thailand is a member within thirty days as from the first publication, or the author has the qualifications as prescribed in (1) at the time of the first publication.
• In the case the author must be a Thai national, if the author is a juristic person, it must be established under the Thai law.

Copyright in the work created by the author in the course of employment vests upon the author unless it has been otherwise agreed in writing, provided that the employer is entitled to communicate such work to public in accordance with the purpose of the employment.

Copyright in the work created in the course of commission vests upon the employer, unless the author and the employer have agreed otherwise.

Copyright in the work which is an adaptation of a copyright work by virtue of this Act done with the consent of the owner of copyright vests in the person who makes such adaptation but without prejudice to the owner of copyright in the work, created by the original author, which is adapted.

Copyright in the work which is a compilation or a composition of copyright works by virtue of this Act done with the consent of the owners of copyright or a compilation or a composition of data or the materials which are readable, or conveyable by a machine or other apparatus vests in the person who makes the compilation or the composition; provided that he has done so by means of selection or arrangement in the manner which is not an imitation of the work of another person but without prejudice to the owners of copyright in the works or data or other materials, created by the original authors, which are complied or composed.

Section 8, Section 9 and Section 10 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the acquisition of copyright under Section 11 or Section 12.

Ministries, Departments or other government or local units are the owners of copyright in the works created in the course of employment, order or control unless it is otherwise agreed in writing.

Part 3: Copyright Protection

Subject to Section 9, Section 10 and Section 14, the owner of copyright has the exclusive rights of:

• reproduction or adaptation;
• communication to public;
• letting for hire of the original or the copies of a computer program, an audiovisual work, a cinematographic work and a sound recording;
• giving benefits accruing from the copyright to other persons;
• licensing the rights mentioned in (1), (2) or (3) with or without conditions, provided that the said conditions shall not unfairly restrict the competition.

Whether the conditions as mentioned in sub-section (5) of paragraph one are unfair restrictions of competition or not shall be considered in accordance with the rules, methods and conditions set forth in the Ministerial Regulation.

The authorization by the owner of copyright by virtue of this Act to a person to exercise the right according to Section 15(5) shall not restrict the owner of copyright from granting such authorization to another person, except that the restriction is specified in a written authorization.

Copyright is assignable.

The owner of copyright may assign the copyright in whole or in part and may assign it for a limited duration or for the entire term of copyright protection.

The assignment of copyright by other means, except by inheritance, must be made in writing with signatures of the assignor and the assignee. If the duration is not specified in the assignment contract, the assignment shall be deemed to last for ten years.

The author of a copyright work by virtue of this Act is entitled to identify himself as the author and to prohibit the assignee or any person from distorting, shortening, adapting or doing anything with the work to the extent that such act would cause damage to the reputation or dignity of the author. When the author is dead, the heir of the author is entitled to litigation for the enforcement of such right through the term of copyright protection, unless otherwise agreed in writing.