Jordan's Copyright Laws No. (22) of 1992 and No.(14) of 1998 have recently been amended through Law No. (29) of 1999 which was published on the first of October 1999.
This new amendment is part of Jordan's efforts to meet the international standards of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property TRIPs Agreement.
The recently enacted copyright Law provides a wider definition for computer programs to include computer programs which are written in the language of the owner or written in Computer Programming language. in addition to restrictions on the licensee the new copyright law lays down the conditions for granting a Jordanian national a license to translate foreign work, The protection period of the work was amended to start from January 1 of the year after completion of the work, instead of date of the publication of the work. As for photographic works and works of applied arts, their protection period has been extended to thirty years instead of twenty years.
Procedures for protective measures against possible infringers have been redefined and detailed in the new law. Further, the law clearly states the right of the defendant to claim compensation if the plaintiff is unable to prove the infringement, or does not file an action within eight days of the date of seizure.
For the purposes of the new Law residents of states member to one of the international agreements will be treated as Jordanian citizens, even if they are citizens in non-member states.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property Bulletins
For further information you make also like to view the Intellectual Property Bulletins published monthly by Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property - IP Bulletins
