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Amendment of the Copyright Act
On 24 February 2022, the Copyright Act (No. 5), 2565 B.E., as amended, was published in the Royal Gazette, and will be effective from 23 August 2022.
Keywords: Mazars, Thailand, Legal, Copyright Act,WCT, Department of Intellectual Property
11 April 2022
As Thailand is preparing to accede to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty (WCT), this amendment will help to enhance the protection of copyrighted works, especially the measures on stopping the spread of pirated works on online media platforms in a timely manner. It will also help to support the Thai digital content industry by promoting the creation of newly copyrighted works. Several provisions of the Copyright Act have been improved, such as the following:
1. The period of copyright protection of photographic works has been extended
- The period of copyright protection of photographic works has been extended to the photographer’s or author’s lifetime and 50 years after their death.
- This extension does not apply to photographic works for which the copyright expired prior to 23 August 2022.
2. The definitions, duties, and exemption from liability of a Service Provider have been added
Definitions | Duties | Exemption from liability |
The definition of the term ‘Service Provider’ has been broadened to include internet hosting service providers and search engine internet service providers. Service Providers are divided into 4 kinds of internet service providers (ISPs):
| Notification and takedown mechanism A copyright owner will be entitled to take action directly against copyright infringement on an online platform without going through a traditional court proceeding. Upon receipt of a notice from the copyright owner, the Service Provider must comply with the copyright owner’s request without delay and inform the Service User accused of copyright infringement. | A Service Provider is to be exempt from liability for copyright infringement in the event that it:
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3.A ‘Service User’ is defined as a user of a Service Provider, regardless of whether the service is free of charge or not. A Service User accused of copyright infringement is entitled to dispute the claim in writing or through the electronic system of the Service Provider.
Reference: The Department of Intellectual Property
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