Taiwan Copyright System

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【Must copyrights be registered to receive protection?】

R.O.C. follows the principle of copyright protection upon creation. A creator enjoys copyrights as soon as a work is completed. Copyright registration is not a prerequisite for obtaining copyright. In other words, no formal application is necessary to obtain copyright.

【When does copyright protection begin?】

Article 10 of the Copyright Act provides, “The author (creator) of a work shall enjoy copyright upon completion of the work; provided, where this Act provides otherwise, such provisions shall govern.” That is to say, a creator enjoys copyrights as soon as they have completed a work. Registration is not required.
Copyrights are private rights. Copyright owners, like owners of other private rights in general, bear the burden of proof of the existence of their rights. Therefore, copyright owners should preserve and keep materials from the creative process or release of a work or other materials relating to their rights to a work, to serve as evidence of their rights. That way, if a dispute ever arises over the private rights, a court of law can use such evidence submitted by the rights owner as a basis to uphold the rights.

【What kinds of works are protected by copyright?】

The term “works” in the Copyright Act includes works in literature, science, the arts, and other intellectual realms. It includes oral and literary works (such as poems, verses, prose, fictions, plays or scenarios, and lectures), musical works (such as scores and lyrics), dramatic and choreographic works (such as pantomimes, musicals, dances), artistic works (such as paintings, comic strips (cartoons), sculptures, craftworks), photographic works (such as photographs and slides), pictorial and graphic works (such as maps, charts, scientific or engineering design drawings), audiovisual works (such as motion pictures, videocassettes, videodisks), sound recordings, architectural works (such as architectural design drawings, architectural models, buildings or constructions), computer programs, and performances. Copyright protects only the expression of a work, not the ideas, processes, operational methods, or concepts behind a work.

【What is the term of copyright protection?】

Copyrights are divided into moral rights and economic rights. Protection of moral rights is perpetual. Economic rights are for the lifetime of the creator and for 50 years after his or her death. However, economic rights in pseudonymous or anonymous works, works authored by a juristic person (e.g. a company or foundation), photographic and audiovisual works, sound recordings, and performances are for 50 years from the time of public release.