The "Amending Copyright Protection Law for the year 1998" was published in the Jordanian Official Gazette No. 4304 dated October 1, 1998.
MAJOR CHANGES
1. Adding a definition to the word fixation to mean storing the work on a tangible medium.
2. Adding a new paragraph to Article 3 which includes protection of literary and artistic collections such as encyclopedias, anthologies and data compilations as well as those of selected pieces of poetry, prose or music.
3. In Article 11, the Minister may authorize any Jordanian to translate any work into the Arabic language after the elapse of 3 years from the date of the first publication of the work, to reproduce any printed work after the elapse of 3 years of the first publication of the work if relating to technology and mathematics), after the elapse of 7 years of the works of poetry, music art and fiction, and after the elapse of 5 years for other types or works.
4. Permission to presenting the work in a family gathering or at educational institutions and by the musical bands of the state without generating any financial returns.
5. Preventing the fixation of any unfixed performance by its owner or broadcasting without his consent. The radio and television commissions have the right to prevent others from fixing them in such cases.
6. The protection period of the rights of performers and producers of phonograms is for 50 years as of the date of the year of performance or fixation.
7. The protection period for the financial rights is for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years after his death.
8. The protection period for cinematographic and televisional works is 50 years as of the date of publication, and so is the case for the works whose author is a corporate body, works which are published for the first time after the death of their authors, and those that don't bear the names of their authors. If the author's name is known, the protection period will start from the date of the author's death.
9. The protection period for photographic works and works of applied arts is 25 years as of the date of completion.
10. The office staff are regarded as judicial policemen and have the competence to investigate and apprehend.
11. Non-filing of the work shall not prejudice copyright.
12. The penalties range from 3 months to 3 years imprisonment and fines between JD's 1000 - 3000.
COMMENTARY
Despite the amendments to the law, weaknesses can be summarized as follows:
1. The draft amendment was submitted to the Cabinet in 1996 whereas it finally came in effect by the end of 1998. This means that any recent technology subjects were not included.
2. Neighboring rights were not adequately elaborated; they were quoted from the TRIPs Agreement in the same ambiguous manner.
3. Digital type technology was not covered by this amendment.
4. Reproduction and translation rights did not incorporate all the provisions appendixed in the Berne Convention.
5. Licensing was not clearly elaborated. For instance, the owner of a software may license the software without granting the reproduction right. This matter was not regulated by the law.
6. While the original law should be read in conjunction with the amendment, this would mean that joint works or musical works whereby three parties are involved, performer, composer, and song writer all of which has a separate right, yet the amendment treats them equally in compensation in the event a dispute should arise, despite the fact of the different rights owned by each party.
7. With respect to folklore, the Minister of Culture was delegated its protection. However, the significance of folklore requires that it is adequately protected with clear provisions regulating this matter particularly since folklore has been the subject of piracy.