KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF LAW
COURSE : LLB
YEAR : 4
SEMESTER : 1
COURSE UNIT : INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
LECTURER :
GROUP MEMBERS
NO. NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER
1. KEVIN NABUKENYA 2018-08-01750
2. NAMWAYA TOLOFISA JUDITH 2018-08-01521
3. NAKINTU LINDA 2019-04-05491
4. NAMAGEMBE RESTY 2019-01-05416
5.
6.
QUESTION
Copyright law and protection in Uganda
Intellectual property law is the law that deals with the protection
and enforcement of the rights of the owners and creators of
inventions, writings, music, designs and other works which are
known as intellectual property.
Intellectual property is therefore a collective term for a bundle of
different rights relating to intangible creations. Intellectual
property as a property involves exclusive rights which entail the
legal right to control the use and exclude others.
As defined above regarding intellectual property, copyright is one
of the intangible creations and is a type of intellectual property that
gives the owner a right to copy and distribute a creative work but
usually for a limited time.
 Or; is a legal right that a creator has over his / her literary and
artistic work. For example music, films, sculpture, painting,
computer program, databases, advertisement, maps and technical
drawings.
Copyright in a literal meaning it means a right to copy. However
copyright has no specific definition in the Act itself but rather it is
defined by different persons, dictionaries among others. That is to
say;
According to Professor David Bakibinga in his book Intellectual
Property Law in East Africa; he defines Copyright to mean a
regime of law that protects literary, scientific and artistic works.
Copyright was also well defined under the Harlsbury’s laws of
England1Defines a copy right as the exclusive right to do and to
authorize others to do certain act as in relation to literary, dramatic
and musical works in relation to sound recordings, film,
broadcasts, cable programs and published editions of works
(Section 5 of the Act.)
Copyright may also mean a collection of rights to someone who
creates an original work of authorship such as literary work, song,
movie, or software and the rights include the right to reproduce,
distribute copies, perform and display the works publicly.
Purpose of copyright

1
4th edition Vol.9(2) page 10 paragraph 10
  Fosters growth in the creative and cultural industries and here
authors are able to make a living from their works.
 Encourages human creativity
 Inspires new talent
 Protection of authors, artists, composers among others.
How long copyright lasts
 For natural persons copyright is protected for the life time of
the author and 50 years after his/ her death
 For companies/ corporations, copyright is protected for 50
years after date of the 1st publication.
 Anonymous work or works of unknown authors, 50 years
after discovery of such works.
 Computer programs, 50 years after the program becomes
available to the public.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF COPYRIGHT
The law of copyright and its developments can be traced from the
United Kingdom during the invention of the printing press which
made it much easier to copy a literary work and permitted an
entrepreneur for the first time to make multiple identical copies.
Still as a result of religious wars which spurred circulation of
pamphlets and was followed by banning of writing of hearsay,
sedition and treason? This censorship birthed copyright. All
printers and writers had to include their name on their creation as
 the law demanded. This was in order for the king to track the
disobedient writers. In 1566 a royal charter was established
limiting number of publishers as key strategy to regulation
writings.
In 1624, the statute of Monopolies was enacted. This was seen as
the origin of patent law. This law halted the granting of
monopolies by the government. In addition the Act gave the true
and first inventor of intellectual work a period of 14 years in which
he would have exclusive control over his invention.
In 1710,the Statute of Anne was enacted in Britain which was
basically intended to regulate the book trade. While aspects of
copyright law have a long history, copyright law did not take its
modern meaning as a disclose meaning as a discrete area of law
that grants rights in work of literature and art. The case of Miller
vs. Taylor2; explains this where Andrew miller was a book seller
who in 1729 had purchased the publishing rights to James
Thomson’s Poem “The Seasons” After the term of the exclusive
rights granted under the Statute of Anne expired, Robert Taylor
begun publishing his own competing publication which contained
Thomson’s poem. The point of contention was whether the work
had passed to the public.

2
(1769)
 The Kings Bench held that publishers had perpetual common law
rights over their intellectual works thus no amount of time would
cause the work to pass to the public.
However in Donaldson vs. Becket3; The House of Lords held that
the copyright in published works was not perpetual but was subject
to statutory limitations.
The Berne Convention of 1886 was first accepted in Berne,
Switzerland and it’s formally mandated several aspects of modern
Copyrights. It introduced the concept that copyright exists the
moment a work is fixed rather than surviving registration. It also
enforced a requirement that countries recognize copyrights held by
the citizens of all other parties to the Convention.
Moreover it was not until the passage of 1911 Copyright Act that
copyright law was ratiorised and codified into the types of modern,
abstract and towards looking statute that concerns us. The 1911
Act was also important as it abolished common law copyright in
unpublished works and also repealed the plethora of subject-
specific statutes that existed at the time following the review done
by the Gregory commission in 1952, the 1911 Copyright Act, the
1956, was amended on a number of accessions primarily to take
account of new technologies such as cable television and computer
software. A further periodic review by the white ford committee in
1977 proposed a general revision of the 1956 Act. After further
3
(1774)
negotiation and retirement those proposals led to the passage of the
Copyright, designs & patents Act 1988.
THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ON THE GROWTH OF COPY RIGHTS LAW IN UGANDA
The growth of copy right law in Uganda has been tremendously
been impacted by the developments in copyright at international
level. These international developments are traced back to the
passing of the 1710 Statute of Anne, which paved way for the
development of copyright laws in the United Kingdom.
This was subsequently complied by the coming into force of the
1971 Berne convention, which set out standard principles for copy
right protection, subsequent international instruments forming the
basis for regulation of international copyright included the
Universal copyright convention (1952), and the General
agreement on tariffs & trade (GATT). The 1995 world trade
Organization (WTO)& its 1994 agreements on Trade related
aspects of intellectual property rights harmonies the regulation,
administration and enforcement of intellectual property generally.
These have had a great impact on the growth copyright law in
Uganda. Indeed, Uganda’s current 2006 Copyright &
Neighboring rights Act is a clear attempt of trying to meet the
country’s harmonize the country’s law and policies on copyright &
neighboring rights. The objectives of Uganda’s copyright
 legislative process is set out in the memorandum to the Copyright
& Neighboring rights bill which reads as follows; the bill seeks to
update the law of copyright to bring it into line with international
standard and to repeal the existing out- dated copyright Act (1964).
According to Article 123 (1)4; the president or a personal
authorized by the president may make treaties, conventions,
agreements or other arrangement between Uganda and may other
country or between Uganda and any international organization or
body, in respect of any mater. Uganda as a member of World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Uganda has an active membership in the African economic
community (UEC), the common market for eastern and southern
Africa (COMESA), African regional intellectual property
organization (ARIPO) and east African community (EAC). As a
member, it has various roles, duties/ obligations to fulfill in regards
to copyright law hence influencing the copyright law growth in
Uganda.
Article 105 which obliges all member states to protect computer
programs. This is incorporated in the Uganda’s copyright law
under Section 5(1) (e)6 which provides for works eligible for
copyright protection to include “computer programs& electronic
data banks & other accompanying materials.
4
The Constitution of the republic of Uganda 1995
5
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
6
The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
ORIGINS OF UGANDA COPYRIGHT LAW
Copyright was started in Uganda from the time the British declared
Uganda a British Protectorate. The English common law and the
statutes of general application applied in Uganda.
This was to be he use until 1991 when the Supreme Court of
Uganda held in the case of Uganda Motors Limited v Wavah
holdings Limited that “that acts of general application no longer
have any place in the jurisdiction of the high court and that is
perhaps as it should be”.
Copyright law is traced from the United Kingdom and was only
domesticated by virtue of the Reception clause by the 1902
Order in Council under which Uganda adopted the Copyright Act
of 1956 of the United Kingdom. Upon independence, the adopted
Copyright of the 1964 subsisted until the enactment of the current
Copyright and Neighboring rights Act in 2006.
According to Kawooya, Kakungulu and Akubu“ copyright in
Uganda was initially designed to protect British authors and
publishers within the Uganda protectorate.
SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
This generally includes the different types of copyright protection
under intellectual property.
Literary work
 This generally refers to written and printed works and any other
works of literature.
In Uganda the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act7 gives a
list of works that are eligible for copyright protection. These are
provided for under Section 58 of which literacy work is inclusive.
Section 2 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act 2006
provides for what literacy work includes.
Therefore all literacy works listed in Section 2 are eligible for
copyright protection as long as they fulfill the requirement of
Section 4.
Protection is conformed irrespective of the quality or purpose the
works (sec 4(1) of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act9
Section 4 (3) of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act 10
brings out the originality of work whereby it’s not enough for work
to be expressed in writing or print if there is no evidence or any
skill labor applied to create work.
In the case of Exxon Corporation and ors Vs. Exxon insurance
consultants Interactional Ltd (1982); this concerns the issue of
enjoying copyright protection as apiece of original literary work. In
the case the word “Exxon” formed part of the corporate names of

7
2006
8
Copyrights and Neighboring Rights Act 2006
9
2006
10
2006
 the plaintiff companies the defendant were also using the word
“Exxon” as their trading name.
The plaintiffs company Exxon corporate claimed copyright in that
word as a result; the plaintiff sought an injunction to stop the
defendant company from using the word “Exxon” However the
judge refused to grant an injunction to restrain an infringement of
copyright. The judge noted that the word Exxon did not qualify for
copyright protection as an original literary work within the
meaning of the Copyright Act 1956.
On appeal, the court dismissed the appeal and held that Copyright
Act 1956 afforded protection to “original literary work” it
defined what could have been a literary work namely, a literary
work was something that conveyed information, institution or
pleasure. The word “Exxon” afforded none of them. The word
Exxon did not fall into the definition of an original literary work so
the word did not qualify for protection under Copyright Act 1956.
Implied exempted works.
Some categories of literary works may be excluded by implication.
Section 711 provides for public benefit works not protected for
example an enactment including an Act of Parliament, court
decisions, news of the day, law reports, written laws etc.
Dramatic work

11
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
 Section 5(1) (b)12Provides for dramatic, dramatic- musical and
musical works.
Dramatic works has no certain definition in the statutes however it
is defined by different authors among others for example dramatic
works is defined to mean the composition generally in prose or
verse, that depicts a tale that is meant to be performed for an
audience for example plays, operas among others. Dramatic work
rather than just reporting or summarizing an event, it generally
shows it as it occurs.
For any work to qualify as dramatic work it must be;
1. Reduced to a permanent form.
2. It must disclose a story and must be performed in front of an
audience.
This was illustrated in the case of Creation Records Ltd vs. News
Group Newspaper (1997) EMLR 44;Noel Gallagher from the
famous band oasis, organized a photo shoot at a hotel for an album
cover, the photo shoot involved a white rolls Royce on a
swimming pool and other features. A newspaper photographer
managed to take unauthorized photograph of the scene, the Sun
Newspaper published the unauthorized photograph after words,
and the creation records sought an injunction to retrain further
publication of the photograph. The plaintiff claimed copyright in
the scene itself as a dramatic work.
12
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
 Issue: whether the plaintiff could claim copyright in the scene of
the photo shoot itself.
Court held: that the scene of the photo shoot at a hotel could not
be a dramatic work since it was inherently static, having no
movement, story as action.
Musical works
The protection accorded to musical works in Uganda extends to
works intended to be sung or performed with music. What attract
independent protection is not mere words as but the lyrics and the
song itself. Song writing is also taken to be part of copyright.
Many laws do not define musical works, however Copyright Act
of Zimbabwe defines it as “work consisting of music but does not
include any work or action which intends to be sung, spoken or
performed with the music”.
To prove music, sound recording, musical composition, lyrics
composition among others, music performers must be
established.
Musical works should be defined in the national laws; musical
works are not defined in the Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Act 2006. However, Section 5(1) (b)13 lists “dramatic- musical
and musical works” as part of the works eligible for copyright
protection.

13
The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
 Musical works can mean “including musical of exclusively of
any words or action intends to be sung, spoken, or performed with
the music.
Separate copyright exists in the lyrics the song itself; the lyrics
constitute literary works and the song (tune) is protected as musical
works.
In Stuart vs. Barret14; it was held that the contribution by a
drummer in a rock band to a song was recognized as part of the
musical works and was therefore co- author.
The first owner of the words was the owner of the copyright held
in Chappell & Co. Ltd Redwood; musical works or compositions
are part of the works eligible for copyright protection in Uganda
under the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act15.
Derivative works.
In copyright law, a derivative work is an expensive creation that
includes major copyrightable elements of an original, previously
created first work. The derivative work becomes a second, separate
work independent inform from the first.
Section 216 defines derivative work to mean work resulting from
adoption, translation or other transformation of an original work
but which constitutes an independent creation of itself.

14
(1994)EMLR
15
2006
16
2006 Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act
 Derivative work form part of the subject matter of protection of
copyright in Uganda.
Section 5(1)of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act17
names “Derivative works which by selection and arrangement of
its content, constitute original work.” As eligible for copyright
protection in Uganda.
Under Section 5)(2)a)18 derivative works such as, Translations,
adaptations and other transformation of pre-existing works under
subsection (1) and
(b),collections of pre-existing works like encyclopedia and
anthologies which by selection and arrangement constitute original
works, shall be protected under this act as original works.
Section 5(3)19 states that the protection of a derivative work under
subsection(2) (above) shall not affect the protection of the pre-
existing work used by a person for ”derivative purposes” .
In Byrne V Statist Company, the issue was whether translated
works can be considered original so as to constitute “derivative
works” it was held that translation was an original work within
Section 1 of the Copyright Act 1911.
Section 4 is the equivalent of which the plaintiff was the author
and the owner of the copyright there within Section 5 of the Act.

17
2006
18
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
19
2006 Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act
 In the matter of objection by Mr. Mwambusya Ndebesa and Dr
Katono Nzanva Deo, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The objectives
sought to be the registration of the applicant’s musical work. “You
want another rap” arguing that the musical work is in the public
domain free for all to use.
The registrar observed that originality relates to creative expression
involved in the derived work.
Museveni got protection and registration of his derivative wok
“You want another rap”, the folk song Mpenkoni remains part and
parcel of the traditional folk songs of the people of Ankole and free
to be used as such.
It’s therefore a duty of any person claiming copyright in derivative
work to prove that there are clear variations between the derivative
work and existing works.
Artistic works
Artistic works includes painting, drawings, maps, charts,
photographs, engravings, sculptures or artistic craftsmanship.
However, Section 5 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Act20, provides for work eligible for copyright in Uganda which
reads that the following literary, scientific and artistic works are
eligible for copyright.

20
2006
 Section 5(1) (f)21 lists works of drawing, printing, photography,
typography, mosaic, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography
and tapestry as works eligible for copyright protection in Uganda.
Similarly, Section 5)1)g) of the Copyright and Neighboring
Rights Act22 names “ works of applied art whether handcraft or
produced on industrial scale and works of all types of designing’s”,
as works of art, and therefore, fit for copy right protection.
Thus in the case of Creation Records Vs. News Group News 23;it
was held that the process of arranging objects and members of a
group to form a sense comprised in the photography could be
considered as sculpture or a collage under the act or as a work of
artistic crafts man ship.
In Metrix (uk) vs. Maugham plastic24;it was held that something
which had a transient (temporary or brief) existence might
nevertheless be work of sculpture.
Artistic works require a lot of intellectual creativity and have
accordingly been protected by the Copyright and Neighboring
Rights Act25. Many Ugandan’s are involved in the making of
artistic works for a living. In the book of D.J Bakibinga& P.M
Kakungulu in their book Intellectual Property Law in East
Africa.
21
Copyright And Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
22
2006
23
(TRL29.4.97)
24
(1997)FSR 718
25
2006
 In order for work to be protected by the copyright in Uganda the
work must first and for most be eligible for copyright protection
under Section 5 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act26
that is to say the work must form part of the subject matter of
protection of copyright, the work must also pass the test of
protection requirements in order for it to be protected under
Section 427.
LEGAL PROTECTION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS,
SOFT WARE AND DATA BASES
Section 228 defines computer programs as set of instructions
expressed in any language, code or notation intended to cause the
device having information processing capacity to indicate, perform
or achieve a particular function, task or result.
 Computer software is the programs and other operating
information used by the computer.
 Date base; is an original collection of structural information
or data typically stored electronically in a computer system.
According to Professor David I Bainbridge, copyright law
protects computer software, whether it is computer programs, data
bases, and computer files of printed documentation.

26
2006
27
Supra
28
Supra
 Section 5)1) e)29 provides for works eligible for copy right
protection to include computer programs and electronic data banks
and other accompanying materials.
Section 13(b) Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act 30 the
duration of the copyright protection of a computer program is that
the economic rights of the author are protected for 50 years from
the date of making the program available to the public. Computer
programs are also be protected by patents if it passes the incentive
step requirements or through confidential information and the
obligation of confident.
Section 7 of the Patent’s Act31 as amended by the National
Agricultural Research Act Section 40. In the case of DIGITAL
SOLUTIONS LTDvs.MTN UGANDA LTD32;The applicant
development and wrote a software programs which operate as an
application that enables peer to peer airtime and service free
transfers between two prepaid mobile telephone subscribers by
May 7th short messaging service (sms) command. The applicant
sought a temporary injunction restraining the respondent and its
servants or agents from further infringement on the applicant copy
right in the software and functional specifications of the mezu
software. Court allowed the applicant to be compensated for a

29
Supra
30
2006
31
Cap 216
32
Misc.APP NO. 546 OF 2004 [2004]
 development of a program since the intention of the applicant was
to sell it and not to run it.
The issue; was whether computer programs quality as literary
works is worth copyright protection. Apple Computer Ine vs.
Franklin Computer Corp33; Judge Sloviter held: the category of
literary works are one of the several copyrightable categories, it is
not confined to literature in the nature of harming ways for whom
the bell tolls. Thus literary works includes expression not only in
words but also in numbers or other numerical symbols thereby
expending the common usage of literary works.
A computer program therefore whether in object code or source
code is a literary work and is protected from unauthorized copying
other from its objects or source code version. Uganda has been
able to protect computer programs, software and such innovations
as seen in the case of Digital Solutions34.
The justification for the legal protection of computer software is
because the subject matter of intellectual property is the result of
the existence of human intellect, it is a fundamental form of
property and there should be strong reasons for depriving a person
of property rights in what he or she has created.
It’s explicit that the drafters of Section 435 intended the normal
copy right rules should apply to computer programs and that
33
(1983)
34
Supra
35
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
 computer programs fall in the category of literary works under
Section 536.Hence the Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Act37offers legal protection of computer programs including
software and compilations of data as required under Article 1038
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS
In order for work to be protected by the copyright in Uganda the
work must first and fore most be eligible for copyright protection
under Section 5of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Act39that is to say the work must form part of the subject matter of
protection of copyright, the work must also pass the test of
protection requirements in order for it to be protected under
Section 440.And the following are the four basic principles that
the work must consist they include;
1. ORIGINALITY
For work to be entitled to copyright protection, it must be original.
Section 4(3) of the Act41 provides that work is original if it is the
product of the independent efforts of the author.
In other words, for an author to be entitled to copyright protection,
the work must be of his or her independent effort and not merely
copied or lifted from another source. In Land broke (football)

36
Supra
37
2006
38
Trade Related Aspects Of Intellectual Property
39
2006
40
Supra
41
2006
 Ltd vs. William hill (football) Ltd: Court observed that copyright
acts are not concerned with the originality of ideas but with the
expression of thoughts in print or writing.
The work does not have to be new rather originality is more
concerned with the manner in which it was created. Courts have
tended to view originality from the view point of what is worth of
copying is prima facie worth protecting.
Originality test has been widely criticized as being too low to the
extent that certain works are worth of limited merit can actually
pas off as original. However we should not forget that fact copy
right protects expression of ideas.
2. MATERIAL FORM/ FIXATION
Fixation is defined under Section 2 of the Copyrights and
Neighboring Rights Act42 as the embodiment of images or sounds
or both images and sound in a material form sufficiently stable or
permanent to permit them to be perceived, reproduced or otherwise
communicated through a device during a period of more than
transitory duration.
A material form is any form of storage of work (visible or not).
Section 4(1)43 states that the author of any work specified in
Section 5 shall have a right of protection of work where work is

42
Supra
43
Supra
 original and is reduced to material form or in any form or method
irrespective of quality of the work or the purpose it is created.
Copyright only accrues where the work is original and is reduced
to material to material form in any method. However this is not
meant to subject the author to formalities in order to afford
protection but aims at aiding the process of ascertaining works.
Section 4)2)44 states that the protection of authors work shall not be
subject to any format. A work is original if is the product of the
independent efforts of the author.
However copy right law in Uganda does not protect ideas,
concepts and procedures interalia. This is stipulated in the
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
agreement which provides that copyright protection shall extend to
expressions and not to ideas, methods of operation or mathematical
concepts Section 9(92)45
NOTE: The requirement of quality under civil law is strong for
example the work must bear authors personality. Copyright
protects the expression of ideas in tangible form.
This was best illustrated in the case of Walter and Anor vs. Lane;
in which the issue was whether a person who makes notes of a
speech delivered in public transcribes them and publishes them in a
newspaper, a verbatim report of speech, is the author of the report

44
Supra
45
The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement
 within the meaning of the Copyright Act of 1842 and is entitled to
report and can assign a right? The House of Lords stated that the
speaker is the author of the speech whereas the reporter is the
author of the report.
3. PRINCIPLE DE- MINIMS-NON-CURAL-LEX
This generally means that the law is not concerned with
insignificant or minor matters or trifling matters. It is a principle of
common law which stipulates that judges will not take notice of
extremely minor violations of the law.
This was laid down in the case of Coward vs. Baddeley46; where
a bystander touched a fireman on the aim to draw his attention to
another part of a building in which a fire raged. On a suit filed for
battery by the fireman, the court held that on the basis of the
maxim de minis non curatlex, the bystander was not liable for
battery.
This some position has been adopted in matters concerning
copyright infringement; however, the court has to ascertain
whether a certain work is significant enough to afford copyright.
As it was discussed in the case of Sinanide vs. La Maison
Kasmeo47, the advertising slogan “beauty is a social necessity,
not a luxury”, this was used by the defendant while the plaintiff
slogan stated “a youthful appearance is asocial necessity” It was

46
(1859)
47
(1928)
held that it was too slight a work to be found allegations of
infringement by use of the rival slogan “a youthful appearance is
a social necessity” by the plaintiff. As the court was reaching on
its decision for one to succeed on infringement of copyright a
substantial part of the work must be copied to include;
 The exact usage of part of the work taken in verbatim
 Some re-working of the whole of it or
 A combination of the two
Note: this is purposely to reduce trifling claims which would over
whelm the courts.
 NON APPLICATION TO IDEAS
Section 6 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Act48provides that ideas, concepts, procedure, methods or other
things of a similar nature shall not be protected by the Copyright
Act. Copyright does not protect ideas or concepts in their own
right.
Copyright applies to work that is fixed in a tangible form for
example; written documents, musical recording among others.
This was illustrated in the case of Al Hajj Ntege Ssebagala vs.
MTN (U)49; the issue was whether the defendant infringed the
applicant’s copyright through using his speech in their
advertisement. Court held that there was no copyright
infringement since the applicant never reduced his speech into
material form (writing) hence they were just ideas.
AUTHORSHIP AND OWNERSHIP
Section 2 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act50defines
the term author to mean the physical person who creates work
protected under Section 5 and includes a person/ authority
commissioning work/ employing a person making work in the
course of employment.

48
2006
49
2012
50
2006
 A person who originates the work and gives it material/ existence
that constitutes it into a work protected under the act and is deemed
to be the author of that work
Joint authors (right to co- authorship) Section 11 of the Copyright
and Neighboring Rights Act51 where work is created by more
than one person and no parties of part of the work is identified to
have been made by each person such that the work is
indistinguishable all the authors shall be co-owners to the
economic rights and the moral rights relating to the work and the
co- owners shall have equal rights in that work.

51
2006
 Requirements of co authorship
 The work is created by more than one person.
 No particular part of the work is identified to have been made
by each person.
 Authors (their) contribution is indistinguishable.
 Collective work must be a subject matter of copy right in
order for it
to pass as co authorship.
COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP
Authorship can only be attributed to the person/ persons
originating the work. Section 14 of the Copyright and
Neighboring Rights Act52 provides for assignment of license or
transfer of the copyright.
The owner of copyright may as if it were movable property;
a) Assign his or her economic rights in a copyright to another
person.
b) License another person to use the economic right in a
copyright.
c) Transfer to another person/ bequerch the economic rights in a
copyright in whole or in parts.
d) Transfer to any Braille production unit in Uganda economic
rights in the Braille translation.

52
2006
Ownership of copyright can change hands through licensing,
assignment and transfer where as an author of the copy right is
permanent.
Issues of ownership the copyright normally arise in scenarios;
Where the work is created by an employee in which case the
question between the employers and employees is who should own
the work?
If you created the work as an employee acting within the scope of
your employment the work may be made for him. In that event the
copyright owner is the employer.
 Who owns public works?
The movement to make works open access or open source is
choice by the owner of rights to make works available to the
public.
Employee works
Where a work is created by an employee the question of whether
or not belongs to the employer or the employee is determined on
the basis of whether or not it is in the contract of
employment( contract of service) or a contract for provision of
services|( an independent contractor). This is recognized under
Section 8 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act 53 and
the issue in question is whether the work was created by the
employee in the course of his or her employment. The above
section along with Section 17 Copyright and Neighboring
Rights Act 2006.
BARNETT INSTRUMENTS VS OVERTONE54; court held that
the products of labor of an employee belongs to an employer
unless the contract of employment stipulates otherwise and an
employer- employee relationship must be proved to exist.
COMMISSIONED WORK
Section 8 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act55 states
that;
53
2006
54
(1994)
55
Supra
 a) Where a person creates a work in the course of employment
by another person
b) On commission by another person / body; done in the
absence of a contract to the contrary, the copyright in respect
of that work shall vest in the employer or the person that
commissioned the work.
In a commissioned work, the economic rights belong to the
commissioner or institute and the moral rights remain with the
author where a person creates a work on commission by another
person or body then in the absence of a contract to the contrary, the
copyrights in respect of that work shall vest in the person or body
that commission the work. In the case of Professor George
William Kakoma vs. AG56 ; it was held that as general rule copy
right in a commissioned work belongs to the author and in the
absence of an express or implied term to the contrary where the
contract is unclear as to the rights of the commissioner to use the
work the courts may imply the grant of appropriate right.
It is logical and fair that the person who has commissioned another
to create some work owns the copyright in that work for the creator
of such work would not have created the work
RIGHTS UNDER COPYRIGHT
i) Economic rights

56
Supra
 This means that copyright owners have the exclusive right to
control the translation of their work into another language, the
adaption of their work into another form, the communication of
their work, the public performance of their work by another
person.
As the general rule, the initial owner of the copyright is the person
who does the creative work. If you wrote the book, wrote the song,
or took the photography, you are the copy right owner. Employers
may be copy right owners too.
Economic rights mainly allow the right owners to derive financial
reward from the use of their works. Section 2 of the Copyright
and Neighboring Rights Act57defines economic rights to mean
rights specified under Section 958 which states as follows that the
owner of the protected work shall have in relation to the work the
exclusive right to do or authorize other persons to do the
following; to publish, produce, reproduce the work, distribute or
make available to the public the original or copies of the work
through sales or other means of transfer of ownership, perform the
work in publish, broadcast the work, communicate the work to the
public among others.

57
2006
58
supra
 MORAL RIGHTS
These are rights of authors granted under copyright law. Moral
rights are the rights to claim authorship of the work and to object
to any distortion, mutilation or one’s modification of another’s
derogatory action.
Under Section 259 moral rights are the rights to claim authorship or
performance as is provided under Section 10 & 23 of the Act.
Moral rights are also provided for under the Berne convention of
1979 under article 6 (b) for the protection of literary and artistic
works which requires that all member states of the convention
provide for the moral rights. Article 560 provides for performance
and phonograms treaty.
Moral rights are the authors or creators special right which
includes the right to paternity and the right to integrity. The former
right is that right of the author to claim authorship over his work
and have it attributed to him. The author has the right to be made
known to the public as the owner or creator of the work for
example if you are using my work, mentions my name. The latter
right permits the author to restrain or claim damages in case of any
distortion, destruction, modification, or any other act done to his
work.

59
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
60
The Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
The concept of moral rights extends to artistic, musical, dramatic
and cinematography.
Examples of moral rights may include;
 Rights of attribution( being identified and the creator )
 The right to object to derogatory treatment affecting the
artist’s reputation.
 The right to object to false attribution
 The right of privacy in certain films and photographs
Like copyright, moral rights can be passed down to a beneficiary in
order to protect an author’s legacy after death. Moral rights must
be recognized independently of the author’s economic rights and
must continue even after the transfer of the economic rights.
In case of work of visual arts, an author may accent moral rights to
object to the destruction or placement of the work even though it
has been sold e.g. if a work of art was to be purchased with the
intention of locating it in a setting that would charge the authors
purpose. A moral right claim might also be made when the location
would be a different style form of the works of art.
INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHTS
Infringement is a term to mean the use of another person's right
without their permission or interference as the case may be.
Various cases have been decided regarding the issue of
infringement and the first case is Francis Day &Hunter Ltd vs.
 Twentieth century Fox Corporation Limited And others 61
[1939] ; In 1892, the plaintiff released a song titled THE MAN
WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO which was
written by Fred Gilbert. Plaintiff's acquired copyright under the
Copyright Act of 1882. However Gilbert died intestate in 1903 and
British copyright law stated his copyright on work would lapse in
1934 which was extended later to 1953 by Act of 1911. In 1935,
20th century Fox released a film entitled THE MAN WHO
BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO which was other
than the title and had no connection to the song. The plaintiff sued
the defendant for infringement of copyright by performance in
public, infringement of the literary copyright and for passing off.
Court held; that Francis failed on performing rights since they had
not passed from Fred Gilbert.
He however had a right to title and theme as musical work and the
issue of passing off didn't arise. On appeal, court held that Francis
failed on performing rights but owned title. It also held that;
 The question of performing rights failed in law because of lack
of reservation notice required under the UK copyright law. It
was also neither the song nor the music was performed in the
film.
 Claim for literary infringement failed because the only copying
was in the use of title and this was too insubstantial in facts of
61
[1939] UKPC 68, [1939]4 DLR 353, [1949]AC 112
 the case to constitute infringement. A name alone can't possess
copyright unless it's sufficiently original and distinctive.
 Passing off didn't take place because on watching the film, one
was not likely to expect to hear the song. When something is
said to be passed off, it must resemble that thing from which it's
passed off.
Another case was that of UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS
VS UNIVERSITY TUTORIAL PRESS62; University of London
appointed 2 professors to make exam papers for elementary
mathematics. However the university intended to publish the
papers .The professors weren't employed but rather provided their
services to the university. The defendant published about 3 similar
papers to those of the plaintiff. Plaintiff thus commenced legal
action and a question on copyright arose the professors were
appointed on a condition that copyright in exams belonged to
plaintiff.
Issues
 Whether or not a question paper can be considered as
literary work enjoying copyright protection.
Word literary meaning under Section 2 of the Act63and in line
court said that question papers require compilation of question

62
(1916)2 CH 601
63
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
with application of intelligence and reasonable consideration. This
was regarded as literary work even though it isn't literature as such.
 Who had ownership of copyright;
Court held that the plaintiff had actual ownership of papers. The
defendant contended purpose of publishing exam was for
education purposes and they should be exempted from punishment.
However court stated that what is worth copying is worth
protection and therefore equity was applied. Court held that the
defendants were liable for violation of copyright
LIMITATIONS ON RIGHTS UNDER COPYRIGHT
Limitations on rights are the exclusion from copyright protection
from certain categories of works. In some countries, works are
excluded from protection if they are not fixed in tangible form for
example a work of choreography (works of dance).
The second category of limitations is on the rights of authors and
other owners of copyright concerns particular acts of
exploitation, normally requiring the authorization of the owner
of rights, which may under circumstances be specified in the law
be done without authorization.
The first type of limitation in this category is;
 Free uses: which are acts of exploitation of works that maybe
carried out without authorization and without an obligation to
compensate the owner of rights for the use? Examples of free
uses include; the making of quotation's from a protected work,
provided that the source of the quotation including the name of
the author is mentioned and that the extent of the quotation is
compatible with fair practice; use of works by way of
illustration for teaching purposes and use of works for purpose
of new reporting. Article 9(2) of the Berne Convention
provides that member states may provide free reproduction in
certain special cases where the acts do not conflict with a
 normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably
prejudice the legitimate interests of the author.
DEFENSES TO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
1. Fair use
A defendant who is sued for infringement of copyright may plead
the defense of fair use (dealing). This is provided for under
Section. 15 (1)64which stipulates that the fair use of a protected
work in its original language or in a translation shall not require the
consent of the owner of the copyright.
In the case of ANGELLA KATATUMBA VS. ANTI-
CORRUPTION COALITION UGANDA65(civil suit No. 307 of
2011); before Hon. Mr. Justice Christopher Madrama Izama
discussed the fair use exception as a defense to copyright
infringement. The defendant relied on the defense of fair use and
the court had to determine whether the defendants actions was
within the fair use exception provided under Section 15 )1)66
The court had to critically analyze Section 15 (1) and Section 15
(2) of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act67It found out
that the defendant’s use of the plaintiff’s song in advertisement in
relation to a comparison for forest conservation did not fall within
the fair use exception and amounted to infringement.

64
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
65
civil suit No. 307 of 2011
66
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
67
2006
 In determining whether the use of a work in any particular case is
a fair use, the court had to look at Section 15)2) of the Act68
2) Works contrary to morality or public interest
Works which are against public interest for instance immorality
shall not be eligible for copyright protection and course
infringement. This is because it is against public interest to protect
a copyright that is considered immoral by the public e.g. if a
person produces a film which contains nodes and another person
uses that piece of work he has produced without the owner’s
consent. The owner cannot claim that there has been infringement
because it is against public policy (immorality).
3) Expiry of duration;
Section 13 and 2669 deal with the duration of copyright and
performer’s rights respectively. The duration of copyrights is not
renewable once it has expired the work automatically falls in the
public domain.
Section 13 (1)70 provides that the economic rights of an author in
relation to works are protected during the life of the author and 50
years after the death of the author.
Where there is joint ownership of the economic right by more than
2 authors (owners, the work is protected during the life of the last

68
2006
69
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006
70
2006 Copyright Act
 surviving author and 50 years after the death of the last surviving
author.
The moral rights of an author exist in perpetuity whether the
economic rights are still protected or not moral right is enforceable
by the author or after the death of his/her successors.
This means that after the expiry of the duration provided for under
Section 13 and 2671 a person is free to use another person’s work
without consent and this will not amount to copyright
infringement.

71
Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2006