Translation:Announcements, Acts, and Decrees From the Reign of Rama VII/Tome 7/Part 5
Phrabat Somdet Phra Paramin Maha Prajadhipok Phra Pokklao Chaoyuhua gives a great royal command by which He declares to all an order as follows:
Whereas He has considered and found it appropriate to compile and amend the laws on protection of literary works and to extend the protection to artistic works also;
Therefore, He grants with His gracious pleasure the enactment of an Act containing the following provisions:
Section1.This Act shall be called the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Act, 2474 Buddhist Era.
Section2.Subject to section 31 of this Act, this Act shall come into force from the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards.
Section3.The Author’s Rights Act, 120 RE and the Act Amending the Author’s Rights Act, 2457 BE shall be repealed.
Section4.In this Act—
“copyright” means the exclusive right to produce or reproduce a literary or artistic work or essential part thereof in whatever form, and also means the right to display or perform it to the public, or, in case of a lecture, the right to deliver it, or, in case of an unpublished literary or artistic work, the right to publish it;
copyright includes the exclusive right—
(a)to produce or reproduce a literary or artistic work, to display or perform a dramatic work, or to publish a translation of a literary work;
(b)in case of a dramatic work, to transform it into a fictional work or any other work than a dramatic work;
(c)in case of a fictional work or any other writing than a dramatic work or in case of an artistic work, to transform it into a dramatic work by means of public performance or by other means;
(d)in case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, to produce it as a gramophone record, perforated roll, or film, or to do otherwise to enable the playing of such literary or artistic work by a device;
the aforesaid exclusive rights also include the right to authorise other persons to do so;
“literary and artistic works” means every production in the literary, scientific, and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets, and other writings; lectures, other addresses, sermons, or other literary works of the same nature; or dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show, the performance form of which is fixed in writing or otherwise; musical compositions with or without lyrics; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, and lithography; illustrations, geographical charts, plans, sketches, and plastic works relative to geography, topography, architecture, or science; photographic works and pictures produced by a process analogous to photography;
“publication”, when used in relation to a literary or artistic work, means the issuance of replications for distribution, but does not include the performance of a dramatic or musical work, or the delivery of a lecture, or the display of an artistic work to the public, or the creation of an architectural work of art;
“author” shall also include one who composes music and one who produces or creates an artistic work, such as painter, sculptor, architect, etc;
“journal” means a literary work printed in any language, containing news, comments, or notifications of any kind, as well as reviews or magazines published or obviously intended to be published at fixed intervals of time or on certain occasions without fixed schedule.
Section5.Subject to this Act, the author of a literary and artistic work shall have the right to acquire copyright–
(a)if the literary and artistic work was first published in the Kingdom, in case the work has already been published; and
(b)if the author is a Siamese subject or has a place of residence in the Kingdom on the day of creation of the literary and artistic work, in case the literary and artistic work has not yet been published.
Section6.Translations, adaptations, arrangements of music, or reproductions in a new form of a literary or artistic work or several literary or artistic works collectively shall, His Majesty declares, be protected as if being originally invented literary or artistic works without prejudice to the rights of the original authors.
Section7.As for serials and novels published in journals, His Majesty prohibits their republication by anyone, either in their original languages or in translated forms, without prior permission from the authors.
This provision shall also apply to other matters in journals, if the authors or editors have expressly stated in the journals in which they are published that their republication by anyone is prohibited. In case of periodicals, His Majesty declares that such prohibition expressed in general terms at the beginning of each number is sufficient.
If without such prohibition, His Majesty declares that republication may be made, but the sources from which the matters are taken must also be mentioned. His Majesty forbids the application of this prohibition to politically discussed matters, news of the day, and miscellaneous reports.
The author has the exclusive right to publish his own literary works by any means, save where it is contrary to a special agreement.
Section8.The author of a dramatic or dramatico-musical work has the exclusive right to display or perform the dramatic or dramatico-musical work to the public himself or authorise another person to do so, whether or not the dramatic or dramatico-musical work has already been published.
Whilst still having the exclusive right of translation, the author shall, His Majesty declares, be protected from the unauthorised performance to the public of a translation of his dramatic or dramatico-musical work by anyone.
The author of a musical work which has not yet been published shall be protected from the unauthorised performance to the public of his public work by anyone. If the musical work has already been published, His Majesty declares that the author shall be protected from its unauthorised performance to the public by anyone only when the author has expressly stated on the cover or at the beginning of the musical work that its performance by anyone is prohibited.
Section9.The author of a musical work has the exclusive right to authorise—
(1)the adaptation of such musical work to enable its replay by a music-sounding device.
(2)the playing of such musical work to the public through such a device.
His Majesty prohibits the application of the provision of this section to musical works adapted to devices prior to the coming into force of this Act.
Section10.The author has the exclusive right to authorise others to adapt his literary, scientific, or artistic works into films for display to the public.
If the author has given a unique characteristic to a film through the arrangement of the performance form or chronologisation of the film contents, His Majesty declares that the film shall be protected as if being a literary or artistic work. But if there is no such characteristic, His Majesty declares that it shall be protected as if being a photographic work.
Adaptation of a literary, scientific, or artistic work into a film shall, His Majesty declares, be protected as if being a newly invented thing without prejudice to the rights of the author of the adapted literary, scientific, or artistic work.
The above provisions shall apply to reproductions or productions made by any other process analogous to a film.
Section11.Reproduction in the following manner shall, His Majesty declares, be unlawful under this Act, namely, indirect appropriation of another person’s literary or artistic work without authorisation by its owner, such as by adaptation, musical arrangement, transformation of a fictional work, novel, or poetic work into a dramatic work, or transformation of a dramatic work into a fictional work, novel, or poetic work, whether it be reproduced in the original form or in a modified form, in so far as it is without any significant change, addition, or abridgement and has no characteristic of a newly invented literary or artistic work.
Section12.Subject to the provisions of this Act, the author of a literary or artistic work shall be the owner of the copyright over that literary or artistic work. This shall be governed by the following conditions:
(a)in case of an engraving, photograph, or picture, when the plate or other thing equivalent thereto was made by an order from another person and was made for valuable consideration, His Majesty declares that the person ordering the making of the plate or thing equivalent thereto shall be the owner of the copyright, save where otherwise agreed upon;
(b)if the author is employed for service or as an apprentice and produces a literary or artistic work in his capacity as such employee, His Majesty declares that the employer is the owner of the copyright, save where otherwise agreed upon, but if the literary or artistic work is an article or news sent to a journal, magazine, or similar periodical, His Majesty declares that the author has the right to prohibit the publication of such literary or artistic work in any other place than the said journal, magazine, or periodical, save where otherwise agreed upon;
(c)if the literary or artistic work in question is produced or published by or in an order from or under control of the Government, His Majesty declares that the copyright belongs to the Government, save where otherwise agreed upon.
Section13.His Majesty declares that copyright can be transferred by way of succession or other way.
The owner of the copyright over a literary or artistic work may transfer the copyright in whole or in part, as well as the benefits accruing therefrom, to another person, whether or not for the entire term of the copyright. However, His Majesty declares that such transfer of copyright or benefits shall be invalid if it is not made in writing and signed by the owner or agent duly authorised by the owner.
Section14.His Majesty declares that copyright shall last for the lifetime of the author and shall continue for thirty years thereafter. As for that which is published in instalments, the term of protection shall commence from the day of publication of each instalment.
If the author dies prior to publication, His Majesty declares that the term of copyright shall last for a period of thirty years from the day of publication.
Section15.If several persons are co-authors, His Majesty declares that the term of copyright shall last for the lifetime of the authors and shall continue for thirty years from the day of the death of the last deceased author.
Section16.The term of copyright over a photograph or picture produced by a process analogous to photography shall, His Majesty declares, last for a period of thirty years from the day of production of such photograph or picture.
Section17.The term of copyright over a gramophone record, perforated roll, or thing produced otherwise which enables the replay of sounds by a device shall, His Majesty declares, last for a term of thirty years from the day of production of the original recording from which such a thing derives.
Section18.The term of copyright over a film shall, His Majesty declares, last for a period of thirty years from the day of filming.
Section19.The term of copyright over a number of a journal shall, His Majesty declares, last for a period of thirty years from the day of issuance of such number.
The copyright of the author over a serial or other matter in a journal shall, His Majesty declares, be governed by section 14.
Section20.Whoever, without the consent of the copyright owner, does anything the exclusive right to do which is vested by this Act in the copyright owner, is declared by His Majesty to commit infringement of copyright. However, His Majesty declares that the following acts shall not be deemed to be infringement of copyright:
(1)fair use of a copyrighted work for the purposes of personal study, research, criticism, review, or summarisation of a journal;
(2)production or publication of a painting, drawing, engraving, or photograph of a work of sculpture or artistic craftsmanship, if such work of sculpture or artistic craftsmanship is located in a public place or public building; or production or publication of a painting, drawing, engraving, or photograph of an architectural work of art;
(3)joint publication of excerpts or translations of reasonable length from literary or artistic works for the purposes of education, science, or compilation of literary works, or reproduction of artistic pictures and photographs when such reproduction is for explanation of textual descriptions, provided that this must be accompanied by a statement of the sources of the copyrighted works;
(4)publication in a journal of the following, namely, reports, lectures or other addresses, or sermons delivered to the public, or arguments made in legal proceedings, provided that the authors have the exclusive right to public them by other means.
Section21.Whoever does the following shall, His Majesty declares, be deemed to commit infringement of copyright, namely—
(a)selling, or letting, or commercially displaying, offering for sale, or offering for hire, or
(b)distributing for commercial purposes, or
(c)commercially displaying to the public, or
(d)ordering to be brought into the Kingdom for sale or hire—
a literary or artistic work with the knowledge that the literary or artistic work has been produced through infringement of copyright.
Section22.If copyright is infringed, His Majesty declares that the owner shall be entitled to remedy by applying for injunction, liquidation, or others according to the laws regarding infringement of rights.
In a copyright infringement case, His Majesty requires that the literary or artistic work in question be presumed to be copyrighted and the instituting party be presumed to be the copyright owner, save where the defending party puts in issue the ownership over the copyright or the rights of the instituting party. If such an issue exists, His Majesty declares as follows:
(a)if a name claimed to be the name of the owner is printed or displayed in a usual manner and it cannot be proved otherwise, His Majesty requires that the person whose name is thus printed or displayed be presumed to be the author of the artistic object or photograph in question; an affixed unique symbol of the author shall have the have effect as a name;
(b)if no name is printed or displayed, or if the name printed or displayed is not a name belonging or generally known to belong to the author and a name claimed to be the name of the publisher or owner is printed or displayed in a usual manner, His Majesty requires that, for the purpose of trying the copyright infringement case, the person whose name is thus printed or displayed be presumed to be the copyright owner, save where otherwise proved.
Section23.As regards a replication which infringes the copyright over a still-copyrighted work, whether in whole or in most part, or a plate which has been used or is intended to be used to produce such a replication, His Majesty declares that it shall be deemed to be property of the copyright owner and the copyright owner shall be entitled to claim such property.
Section24.As regards a copyright infringement case, His Majesty prohibits its institution upon expiry of three years from the day of the infringement.
Section25.Whoever knowingly—
(a)and brazenly produces for sale or hire a replication which infringes the copyright over a still-copyrighted work; or
(b)sells, or lets, or commercially displays, offers for sale, or offers for hire such a copyright-infringing replication; or
(c)distributes for commercial purposes such a copyright-infringing replication; or
(d)commercially displays in public such a copyright-infringing replication, or orders to be brought or brings into Siam for sale or hire such a copyright-infringing replication;
is declared by His Majesty to be guilty of an offence, for which the punishment shall be a fine of not more than fifty baht for each replication created, but not exceeding five hundred baht per each commercial activity.
Whoever knowingly and brazenly produces or has in possession a plate for production of such a copyright-infringing replication, or knowingly and brazenly causes a copyrighted work to be displayed or performed in public for seeking of profit without the consent of the copyright owner as provided in this Act, is declared by His Majesty to be guilty of an offence, for which the punishment shall be a fine of not more than five hundred baht.
Whoever is convicted by a judgment of repeating an offence within five years when the offence previously and subsequently committed is one provided in this section is declared by His Majesty to be liable to the maximum fine designated therefor.
Section26.Whoever infringes the provision of paragraph 3 of section 7 or infringes the provision of subsection (3) of section 20 which relates to the indication of the source of a copyrighted work is declared by His Majesty to be guilty of an offence, for which the punishment shall be a fine of not more than five hundred baht.
Section27.As regards a case of copyright infringement according to the provisions of this Chapter, His Majesty declares that it can be instituted only upon complaint from the person aggrieved.
Section28.Subject to the following conditions, His Majesty declares that the provisions of this Act shall apply to literary or artistic works published in a foreign country which is a member of the Copyright Union as if they were first published in the Kingdom, and shall apply to literary and artistic works of the authors who, at the time of producing those literary and artistic works, are subjects, citizens, or residents of a foreign country which is a member of the Copyright Union as if they were subjects, citizens, or residents of the Kingdom of Siam. However, if the term of protection in the country of origin of the literary or artistic work in question is shorter than that provided by this Act, His Majesty declares that the term of protection in the Kingdom must not be longer than the term of protection in such country of origin.
Section29.Enjoyment of the rights under this Chapter must, His Majesty declares, be subject to the following formalities and conditions:
(a)the conditions and formalities designated by the law of the country of origin of the literary or artistic work in question have all been complied by;
(b)in case of a literary or dramatic work, the right to prohibit the production, reproduction, public performance, or publication of a translation of the literary or dramatic work can be retained after the expiry of ten years from the last day of the year of publication only when the translation has been authorised by the copyright owner to be made by another person into a language for which no other person has been permitted and the translation has been published within the Kingdom since before the expiry of the aforesaid period of time.
Section30.The country of origin of a literary or artistic work shall be as follows:
if the literary or artistic work has not yet been published, the country of origin is the country of the author;
if it has already been published, the country of origin is the country of first publication;
if it is simultaneously published in several countries which are members of the Copyright Union, the country of origin is the country the law of which provides for the shortest term of protection;
if it is simultaneously published in several countries which are members and nonmembers of the Copyright Union, the countries of origin are the countries which are members thereof.
Section31.His Majesty declares that the provisions of this Chapter shall come into force from the day on which His Government accedes to the International Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, done at Berne in September 1886, revised at Berlin on 13 November 1908, and completed by an Additional Protocol signed at Berne on 20 March 1914.
Section32.His Majesty requires that this Act be applied also to the literary and artistic works already existing on the day of coming into force of this Act and having not yet fallen into the public domain due to expiry of the protection terms under this Act.
The literary works published in the Kingdom prior to the day of coming into force of this Act and registered under the Authors’ Rights Act, 120 RE and the Act Amending the Authors’ Rights Act, 2457 BE shall, His Majesty declares, enjoy the benefits of the protection terms under the old Acts previously named or under this Act, depending on whichever is the longest.
Section33.As for the affairs considered unlawful by this Act, which have been executed prior to the coming into force of this Act and considered lawful by the law in force at the time of their execution, His Majesty prohibits them from grounding any litigation.
As for the replications considered lawful according to the text of the previous paragraph and still existing when this Act comes into force, His Majesty declares that they may still be distributed. If they are translations or other reproductions which may be protected by this Act, His Majesty declares that the owner of the copyright over them shall be able to distribute them even after the coming into force of this Act.
Announced on the 16th day of June 2474 Buddhist Era,[1] being the 7th year of the present reign.
(Royal Gazette, Volume 48, 21 June,[2] Page 127)