The The suitability of the copyright system to computer programs in light of the United Arab Emirates law

Abstract

This article investigates whether the new copyright and neighbouring rights law adopted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) legislature is considered appropriate to protect computer programs, or if it is better to establish an independent legal system that includes the appropriate legal protection that is in line with rapid technological progress. For computer programs to enjoy protection, there are two conditions must be met: the work should be a mental production, and the work should be an innovation. Once these two objective conditions are met, computer programs can enjoy automatic protection under the copyright system. Moreover, the study will spot light on Federal Law concerning Copyright and Neighbouring Rights that granted the author of a program a set of moral rights, which do not differ from the rights granted to the authors of traditional works, and it has been agreed that there are four moral rights. We concluded that the computer programs are considered as per Federal Law concerning Copyright and Neighbouring Rights as literary work. They are therefore subject to the protection established under the copyright system. However, despite the importance of the copyright law, it is still unable to keep pace with the technological and economic developments and is not commensurate with the nature of computer programs whose development pace is increasing daily.

For computer programs   to enjoy protection, there are two conditions must be met: the work should be a mental production, and the work should be an innovation. Once these two objective conditions are met, computer programs can enjoy automatic protection under the copyright system. Moreover, the study will spot light on Federal Law concerning Copyright & Neighbouring Rights that granted the author of a program a set of moral rights, which do not differ from the rights granted to the authors of traditional works, and it has been agreed that there are four moral rights.

We concluded that the computer programs are considered as per Federal Law concerning Copyright & Neighbouring Rights as literary work. They are therefore subject to the protection established under the copyright system. However, despite the importance of the copyright law, it is still unable to keep pace with the technological and economic developments and is not commensurate with the nature of computer programs whose development pace is increasing daily.

Keywords:

opyright, computer programs, United Arab Emirates, copyright federal-decree Law, Berne Convention, TRIPS agreement, moral rights