Copyright supports economic development, says ministry

Times News Service

MUSCAT: The copyright and related rights of intellectual property play an important role in the economic and social development of all advanced, developing or less developed society, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

No country in this era can imagine itself without a legal framework for the protection of intellectual property, particularly with the current economic and technological developments sweeping the world, the ministry said, adding that this is even more important in the light of the new global economy, which is rapidly becoming economy based on knowledge, information and intellectual products and which have massive material value.

“Copyright is a legal term which describes the rights granted to creative writers and artists for their literary and artistic works. Copyright covers a wide range of books, music, oil paintings, sculptures and films to computer software, databases, advertisements, geographic maps and technical drawings, “Badriya Bint Khalfan Al Rahbiya, head of the copyright department in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

“The popular works protected by copyright are literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspaper articles, computer software and databases, films, musics, choreography, and works of art such as oil paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, architectural works, advertisement, geographic maps and technical drawings”, Badriya said.