Copyright of Thailand ¹

1. Brief Introduction to Thailand’s Copyright Law

Thailand has claimed to have its own Copyright Law since 1892, when King Rama 5 proclaimed the Royal Library Committee was the sole authority to the right of copying, adaptation and publication of the Royal Decree. This Proclamation was regarded as the first Copyright Law of Thailand for it had the principle of “exclusivity” in the right of literary works.

However, the Proclamation did not protect all written works but the Royal Decree only. Thus, there was a need to extend the protection to all works as well. And, in 1901, Thailand has enacted the Law on the Ownership of the Book Writer, which was influenced by the Queen Anne’s Copyright Law of the UK.  Though the law protect all written works, built up the copyright registration system and create exception to copyright work, still, it did not cover other copyrighted works except literary ones. 

Thailand’s Copyright Law was in compliance to the international standard for the first time when it became a party to the 1886 Berne Convention in 1931. The Copyright Law was then amended to be inline with Berne – National Treatment, non-formality clause; minimum protection requirements as well as civil and criminal penalties were incorporated in the Thai Copyright Law. The law was called the Act for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1931.

The Act for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1931 was being in use for 47 years until it was replaced by the Copyright Act 1983. And, again, when Thailand acceded to the WTO and has obliged to the TRIP Agreement, it has revoked the Copyright Act 1983 and enacted the new Copyright Act 1994. The Copyright Act 1994 was said to be compatible with TRIPs. This law is still in use as of today, although many parts of it are considered obsolete, not keeping pace with the advent of technology and not flexible.

Like other copyright laws, the Thai Copyright Law protects the “expression of idea” by way of giving a set of “exclusive rights” to the copyright owner within a certain “limited period of time.”  9 various copyrighted works protected under the Thai Copyright Law are: literary work which includes computer program; dramatic work; musical work; artistic work; audiovisual work; cinematographic work; sound recording work; broadcasting work and other work which may fall in the literary, scientific or artistic domain. Thai copyright law also gives protection to Performers as well.

Copyright structure of Thailand is a non-registration system. Once the idea has been originally expressed and falling within the regime of copyrightable work, it will automatically be protected under the Copyright Law. Registration of copyrighted work with the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) is for the record-keeping purpose only. It is not a pre-requisite. Fixation of copyrighted work is not necessary and not required by the law. It depends on the nature of the copyrighted work.

Thai Copyright Law recognizes both economic rights and moral rights. Rights granted to copyright owners are: reproduction and adaptation right; communication to the public right; rental right; right to licensing and right to give away benefits derived from making use of copyrighted works to others. Rights given to copyright owners are limited to a certain period of time and vary upon the type of works, i.e. literary works are protected for a life time of the author plus 50 years after the death of the author, while sound recording works are confined only 50 years from the authorship.

Thai Copyright Law also provides exceptions to copyright infringement. Researching, studying, use of librarian or use for personal purpose, are good examples of exceptions. Fair use principle is also acceptable in Thai Copyright Law though not explicitly written in the law.

Although, copyright owners can seek civil protection for their losses or damages, the Thai Copyright Law also provides criminal sanction to infringers both imprisonment and monetary compensation. Maximum term for jail served is high as 4 years, while fining can be up to 800,000 Baht (20,000 US Dollar) for one crime committed. It is quite privilege that copyright owners can claim from the Court half of the fine convicted to infringers.
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  ¹By Mr. Piset Chiyasak, LL.B. and LL.M., General Manager of Thai Entertainment Content Trade Association (TECA) , a Trade Association for Music Industry, and Managing Director of Phonorights (Thailand) Company Limited, a Collecting Society for Sound Recording Works.

2. Current Issues of Thai Copyright Law

Rapid changing of technology affects the law inevitably, in particular of the laws which relate to it. Copyright Law is one of them that have been caused by the advent of technology severely. Internet is a good example of the advancement. The no boundary internet makes it easier for copying and distributing of million of contents and works without proper authorization from copyright owners. While some countries adapt and amend their internal copyright laws to keep pace with technology by way of ratifying the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and/or WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), or by enacting new laws to chase internet piracy – the ISP’s Liability, or instance, or the expansion of the contributory, inducement or vicarious liability to the P2P makers to deter internet piracy, Thailand has been quite slow to respond to the matter.

The existing Thai Copyright Law is considered not cover with the technology advancement. Nonetheless, positively, Thailand is now underway of amending its Copyright Law to meet with the standard of WCT and WPPT. However, timing of enacting the new copyright law is unforeseeable due to the unpredictable political factor.

The drafting of Copyright Law Amendment is a reflection of the on-going issues of Thai Copyright Law. There are 3 major changes: 1) extending the protection of copyright through the digital media and internet, i.e. giving the “Right Management Information” to copyright owners, giving liability to ISPs to help promoting communication and distribution of copyrighted works through electronic channels, giving protection to copyright owners in regarding of “Technological Measures,” (2) introducing the management and administration of collecting society and (3) making a distinction of penalty as to the seriousness of the crime committed, i.e. infringement with less commercial scale will be punished lesser than with large commercial scale.

Apart from the legislation issue, there is another matter that needs to be concerned. It is a matter of how to effectively enforce the law. Nowadays, Thailand’s copyright enforcement is mostly falling in the responsibility of the Royal Thai Police Bureau² . The Police Force has played a vital role in cracking down all kind of intellectual property infringements – from counterfeit goods to imitating trademarks. While the Police Force has to look after the well-being of the people as well as to guarantee the safety of the people as a primary concern, it then considers copyright issue less important. Personal assigned to take care of the copyright issue is quite small, not to mention the budget and tools which are very tighten and limited. Thus, it can be said that the enforcement of copyright law is not serious enough to deter the infringement.

Yet, another issue to be aware of is the awareness of Thai people toward intellectual property. Many Thai consumers view copyright only relates to a certain group of people, not involves with the public at large. Piracy affects only to the group of copyright owners. They feel that government’s devotion of its resources to curb with piracy is a waste of time and money. On the contrary, piracy helps people with low income to get access to intellectual creativities of human with an affordable price. It helps boosting up creativity of Thai in return. Thus, piracy seems to give more benefits to the people than be harmful.

3. Conclusion

Thailand has gradually evolved its copyright system into the international standard. Apart from laws and enforcement, there are many components and factors Thailand has to make to lift-up its creativity and intellectual property and turn them into a “real” productivity. This intellectual property is placed as one of a future asset of Thailand to replace its agricultural products and industrial goods. However, the key success for Thailand to achieve its goal is nothing, but only one thing - a will power comprising of a strong determination and a serious continuous commitment of the government to make it happen.
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 ²The Custom Authority is another suppression unit under the Custom Act to seize the intellectual property infringing products coming into or going out from Thailand and arrest the importer or exporter for the crime committed. However, the law applied is not a Copyright Law, but the Custom Act instead.