Copyright Laws in Jamaica
Jamaican copyright laws cover original literary, dramatic and artistic works. Copyright laws in the country will cover sound recordings, films and broadcasts of cable programs. And their laws extend protection to typographical arrangements. The law makes it clear that it does not extend copyright protection on the idea, concept, principle, system and discovery.
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Scope of Coverage
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Under the copyright laws of Jamaica the works that are protected under the law include original literary, dramatic and artistic work. This will cover the sound recordings, films and the broadcasts or the cable programs. The copyright laws of the country also covers typographical arrangements of the published editions, where the copyright will subsists in the work no matter the quality or the purpose on which these works were created.
Considerations
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The literary, dramatic and musical works are considered not covered by the copyrights of Jamaica unless these works are recorded in writing. Copyright protection in the country will not cover an idea, the concept, the principle, the procedure, the system or discovery. Works can be considered as covered under the copyright laws if the authors of these works are considered as qualified persons at the material time. Works by two authors or called the joint authorship will qualify for the protection of the copyright laws if these works have satisfied some requirements as specified on the Act.
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Instances When Works are Covered
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The copyright laws of Jamaica outline instances when works will be covered by the copyright laws. Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Works tagged under literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works can be considered as covered under the copyright laws of the country when these works are first published in Jamaica or published in a specified country.
Broadcasts are covered by the copyright laws if these broadcasts are made from a place in the country or any specified country or if these broadcasts were made by a broadcasting organization that carries a valid license granted under any law in Jamaica or in a specified country regulating broadcasting.
Cable programs are covered by the copyright laws if these are sent from a certain place in Jamaica or if these programs are sent from a specified country in accordance as covered by the law in force regulating transmission by the cable.
Author's Rights
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The copyright laws of the country give the author or the authors exclusive right to do or to authorize other persons to perform a number of actions. These actions include the right to copy the works, to issue copies of the works to the public, to perform the work in public or to show the work in public, to broadcast the work or include the work in the cable program, to broadcast the work and include this work in the cable program service and to make adaptation of the work.
Length of Protection
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The copyright laws extend different length of protection coverage to various works. The length of protection for literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works will expire after fifty years from the end of calendar year in which the author/s of the works die. If the author/s of the contested works is unknown then the copyright coverage will expire fifty years after the works debuted in the market. If there will be two or more authors for the said work, then the coverage expires after the death of the last surviving author.
The length of protection for sound recordings or films will end fifty years after the works have been made available to the public.
Whereas, the duration of protection for broadcast and the cable programs ends after fifty years after the first showing of the broadcasts and the cable programs. Lastly, the length of protection for typographical arrangements of published editions will end twenty five years after the works have been first published.
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