Copyright law in Uganda is currently governed by;

• The Copyright and Neighbouring Act, 2006 which repealed and replaced the Copyright Act, Cap 215 of 1964.  

• The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Regulations, 2010.

Application of the Act (Section 3)

The Act applies to any work, including work created or published before the commencement of the Act, which has not yet fallen into the public domain where the work is created by a citizen of Uganda or a person resident in Uganda; first published in Uganda, irrespective of the nationality or residence of the author; created by a person who is a national of or resident in a country referred to in section 81 (reciprocal protection) or; first published in a country referred to in section 81 (reciprocal protection).

Subject matter protected by copyright (Section 5)

Works eligible for protection under the Act are:

(1) Literary, scientific and artistic work, which are:-

• articles, books, pamphlets, lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of a similar nature; dramatic, dramatic-musical and musical works; audio-visual and sound recording, including cinematographic works and other work of a similar nature; Choreographic works and pantomimes; Computers programmes and electronic data banks and other accompanying materials; Works of drawing, painting, photography, typography, mosaic, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography and tapestry; Works of applied art, whether handicraft or produced on industrial scale, and works of all types of designing; Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three dimensional works relative to geography, architecture or science; Derivative work which by selection and arrangement of its content, constitute original work; and any other work in the field of literature, traditional folklore and knowledge, science and art in whatever manner delivered known or to be known in the future.

(2) Derivative works such as:-

• translations, adaptations and other transformation of pre-existing works; and collections of pre-existing works like encyclopedia and anthologies which by selection and arrangement of their contents constitute original works

Rights conferred by copyright

• Economic rights;

Under section 9 of the Act, the owner of a protected work has the exclusive right to do or authorize other people to publish, produce or reproduce the work; to distribute or make available to the public the original or copies of the work through sale or other means of transfer of ownership; to perform the work in public; to communicate the work to the public by wire or wireless means or through any other means… including through the internet; where the work is pre-existing work, to make a derivate work; to commercially rent or sell original or copies of the work; to do, in relation to that work any act known or to be known in the future; or to reproduce transcription into Braille which is accessible to blind persons.

• Moral rights

This is covered under section 10 of the Act and it covers a person’s right to claim authorship of a work and to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of the work, or any other derogatory action in relation to the work, that would be prejudicial to the author’s honour or reputation. Moral rights are recognized independently of the author’s economic rights and they continue even in the case of transfer of the economic right.

Duration of copyright protection (Section 13)

The terms of protection of copyright is as follows:-

• During the life of the author and 50 years after death of the author; 

• Where the work is of joint authorship, during the life of the last surviving author and fifty years after the death of the last surviving author.

• Where the rights are owned by a corporation or other body, the copyright shall be fifty years from date of first publication of the work.

• Where the work is published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the rights are protected for fifty years from date of first publication. Where before expiration of the fifty years the identity of the author is known or is no longer in doubt the economic right shall be protected during the life time of the author and fifty years after the death of the author.

• For audio-visual work, sound recording or broadcast, the economic rights of the author are protected for fifty years from the date of making the work or from the date the work is made available to the public with the consent of the author.

• For computer programmes, the right is protected for fifty years from the date of making the programme available to the public.

• For photographic work, the rights are protected for fifty years from the date of making of the work.

Neighbouring rights (Section 21)

Neighbouring rights are rights attached to the auxiliary role played by performers, producers of sound recording and audio-visual and broadcasting companies through:-

the fulfillment of literary or artistic works; the provision of destiny and permanence in works; and the diminishing of distance in the publication of works; respectively, which auxiliary role is dependant on the work of the author and without which the role can not begin.

The right of a performer under this Act shall be protected for fifty years from the date of the performance.

The moral rights of an author exist in perpetuity whether the economic rights are still protected or not and that moral right is enforceable by the author or after death or her successors.

Under Rule 8 of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Regulations, 2010, a person shall not produce, reproduce, distribute, broadcast, make available to the public, sale or offer for sale, lease or rent out or make public performances or import for distribution sound recordings or audio visual recordings in Uganda except under a licence issued by the owner of the neighbouring rights or a collecting society.

Assignment of copyright and licensing (Section 14)

The owner of a copyright may as if it were movable property assign, licence, transfer or bequeath to another person the economic rights in a copyright in whole or in parts; and transfer to any braille production unit in Uganda the economic rights in the braille translation. 

Rule 8 of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Regulations, 2010, provides that the application for registration of an assignment or transfer shall be in Form 4 specified in Schedule 2 to the Regulations. The application shall state—

• the name and registered address of the author and owner of the copyright or neighbouring rights;

• the name, trade or business and the description of the assignor or transferor of a copyright or neighbouring rights;

• particulars of the instrument, if any, under which the interest is claimed;

• the limitations in the assignment or transfer, and shall address issues on whether or not the assignment is limited to—

(i) some of the assignor's rights;

(ii) a part of the term of copyright; or

(iii) a specified country or geographical area.

The application for registration of an assignment or transfer shall be accompanied by—

(a) a copy of the instrument, if any, under which the title is claimed; and

(b) an application fee prescribed in Schedule 3 to the Regulations.

Where the applicant does not claim under any document or instrument, proof of his or her entitlement to the copyright, the applicant shall accompany the application with a statutory declaration setting out the full particulars of facts upon which his or her claim to ownership of the work is based, showing that the work has been assigned or transferred to him or her.

The certificate of registration of assignment shall be in Form 5 specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations.

A licence to do an act falling within a copyright may be oral, written or inferred from conduct or circumstances. Under Rule 9 of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Regulations, 2010, a holder of a licence for copyright or neighbouring rights may apply to the Registrar for the registration of the licence.

The application for registration of a licence shall be made in Form 6 specified in Schedule 2 and shall be accompanied by a fee prescribed in Schedule 3 to the Regulations. 

The application for registration of a licence shall—

• state the name, address and nationality of the licensee;

• indicate full particulars of the instrument, if any, under which the interest is claimed;

• be accompanied by a statutory declaration made by the owner of the work stating—

(i) the particulars of the relationship between the owner and the licensee;

(ii) whether the licence is a general licence or a specific one;

(iii) whether a licence is granted for a limited period or not;

(iv) whether the licence is exclusive or non exclusive.

Upon receiving an application for registration of a copyright, assignment, licence or transfer of a copyright or neighbouring rights, and on being satisfied as to the right of the person seeking to be registered, the Registrar shall cause the person to be registered as the owner or holder of the copyright work in respect of the work and shall issue the applicant with a certificate of registration as proof of registration.

Copyright infringement (Section 46)

Infringement of copyright or neighbouring right occurs where, without a valid transfer, license, assignment or other authorisation under this Act a person deals with any work or performance contrary to the permitted free use and in particular where that person does or causes or permits another person to reproduce, fix, duplicate, extract, imitate or import into Uganda otherwise than for his or her own private use; distribute in Uganda by way of sale, hire, rental or like manner; or exhibit to the public for commercial purposes by way of broadcast, public performance or otherwise. 

The use of a piece of work in a manner prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the author shall be deemed an infringement of the right of the owner of the right.

Civil remedies (Section 45)

The Act provides civil remedies so that a person whose rights are in imminent danger of being infringed or are being infringed may institute proceedings in the commercial court for an injunction to prevent the infringement or to stop then continuation of the infringement.

Administration of Copyright 

Section 41 of the Act, provides for a Registrar of Copyright and other officers. The Registrar’s office shall be the National Copyright Information Centre.

The Registrar shall process applications for licenses; register works and productions to be registered under this Act;  register collecting societies; give guidance to and discipline collecting societies; register assignments, licences and transfers of copyrights; register copyright contracts relating to exploitation of rights; provide copyright and neighbouring rights information service to the public and users of copyright works; in collaboration with the collecting societies, advise Government, on matters relating to copyright and neighbouring rights; perform any other duty or function relating to copyrights, neighbouring rights and collecting societies as may be necessary for the better functioning of this Act or as the Minister may by regulation prescribe.

The Board of Directors of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau may appoint such number of assistant registrars, copyright inspectors and other officers as may be necessary for the efficient discharge of the duties and functions of the registrar of copyrights under this Act.

Registration of rights (Section 43)

The owner of a copyright or a neighbouring and any holder of an assignment, license or transfer of a copyright or neighbouring right may register the right, assignment, license or transfer with the Registrar for the purpose of keeping evidence of ownership of the right; identification of works and authors; and maintenance of record of the rights; 

Rule 3 (2) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Regulations  provides that an application to the Registrar for registration shall be made in Form 1 specified in Schedule 2 to the Regulations and shall be accompanied by—

(a) a deposit consisting of copies or records representing the work for which registration is applied, whether the work is published or unpublished; and

(b) a non refundable application fee specified in Schedule 3 to these Regulations.

The application for registration of copyright or neighbouring rights shall state the following—(Rule 4)

• the title of the work sufficient to identify the work, or if the work has been published as part of a larger work, the title of that larger work in addition to the title of the contribution;

• a description of the nature of the work being registered as specified in section 5 of the Act, such as literary work, dramatic or musical works, audio visual and sound recording works and others;

• the name and registered address of the author and owner of the copyright or neighbouring rights and his or her nationality;

• the date of birth of author;

• if the author is dead, the date of death;

• the year in which creation of the work was completed;

• the date and year of publication, if work is published;

• the names and addresses of copyright claimants such as assignee, transferee or licensee, if any;

• if the registration being applied for is for derivative work, state the pre-existing work; and

• the date and signature of the applicant. 

Upon receiving an application for registration of a copyright or neighbouring right, the Registrar shall publish the notice of the application in the Gazette specified in Form 2 of Schedule 2. The fees for the publication of the notice shall be paid by the applicant.

Where, after sixty days from the date of publication of the application in the Gazette, there is no objection lodged against the registration, and the Registrar is satisfied that all the necessary information has been provided by the applicant, the Registrar shall enter the name of the applicant in the register as the author or owner of the copyright or neighbouring right.

Upon registration, the applicant shall be issued with a certificate of registration as proof of registration. The form of the certificate of registration is specified in Form 3 of Schedule 2 to these Regulations.

Objection to registration (Rule 6)

A person who wishes to object to the registration of a copyright or neighbouring right may, by ordinary letter, lodge an objection against the registration with the Registrar within sixty days from the date of publication of the application in the Gazette.

Upon receipt of the letter of objection, the Registrar shall, as soon as practicable notify the applicant of the objection. The Registrar shall then convene a meeting of both the applicant and the objector, or their agents, where the parties cannot attend in person, in

order for the applicant to address the reasons for the objection.

Where the Registrar is satisfied with the reasons for the objection, the registrar shall not register the copyright or neighbouring right.