A history of copyright in Myanmar

The Copyright Act of 1914 was enacted during colonial rule and was retained on independence under The Union of Burma (Adaptation of Laws) Order of 1948. The 1914 Copyright Act only protects work first published in Myanmar or created by Myanmar residents or citizens. Work is protected under the 1914 Act for the creator’s life plus 30 years after their death.

Because this Act was passed more than 100 years ago, it does not reflect many of the new ways in which we create and share material, such as digital content. Neither does it reflect the needs of emerging markets such as the Myanmar film and song industries. Moreover, the 1914 Act is rarely enforced. Because the law is outdated, awareness of copyright in Myanmar is generally low and current practice does not reflect the need to reference resources or seek permission before using material created by others.

To align Myanmar with international standards, a new Copyright Act has been in development for a number of years, with a draft made available in 2015. Between 1914 and 2019, Myanmar signed up to a number of international treaties related to intellectual property and copyright law. (We will review these in Section 1.3.)

‘Intellectual property’ is the term used for rights – established by law – that empower creators to restrict others from using their creative works. Copyright is one type of intellectual property, but there are many others, including trademark law and patent law. The Myanmar Intellectual Property Proprietor’s Association (MIPPA) created a video [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] that celebrates Intellectual Property Day (26 April) and explains the different types of intellectual property, including copyright. You can also find out more about different types of intellectual property in the additional resources section.

Myanmar’s new copyright law was adopted by the Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) on 24 May 2019. Early in 2020 the Central Committee for Intellectual Property (CCIPR) was established by the Myanmar government. CCIPR will oversee the setting up of the Myanmar Intellectual Property Rights Agency (MIPRA). The new Copyright Act is anticipated to become law in October 2021, when the Copyright Act of 1914 will then be repealed.