COPYRIGHT

I. General

Copyrights in Cyprus are regulated by the Right of Intellectual Property Law, 59/76 as amended by Law 63/77 and 18/93. Persons and legal entities who are protected under the Law are the following:

Physical persons who are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus or ordinarily resident in Cyprus;
Legal persons registered under the Laws of Cyprus;
Foreigners ordinarily but not necessarily permanently resident in Cyprus;
Cyprus registered companies.

The Law extends protection to works of non Cypriot origin by virtue of International Treaties or Conventions binding the Republic eg. (the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention.)

II. Remedies

A. The right of Intellectual Property Law sets out a range of offenses committed by those who infringe copyright. Criminal penalties include fines or imprisonment.

B. The Right of Intellectual Property Law provides that infringement is actionable per se independently of any contractual remedies which may be available by virtue of the copyright contract. The law also sets out civil remedies which may be sought in the event of copyright infringement. They fall into two categories, namely preventive and compensatory.

1. Preventive

The power of search and seizure of infringing material;
Anticipatory injunctions

2. Compensatory

The award of damages to the plaintiff;
Orders for destruction or delivery up of the infringing copies and the equipment by which copies are produced;
Accounts

III. Duration of Protection

The term of protection is the life of the author and 50 years after his death. However, there are shorter minimum terms prescribed for certain types of works. The copyright for cinematographic work or a television work is 50 years after the work has been made available for the public.

The term of protection of photographs is 25 years from the making of the work as is the term for works of applied art.