The Agencies Department started receiving copyright deposit applications in May 1998 following the issuance of Ministerial Decision No. 43198.
The second article of the Decision has excluded non-original works by allowing the owners of phonograms and audiovisual works a grace period to dispose of them before the beginning of 1999. At present the Ministries of Commerce & Industry, Information, and National Heritage & Culture are coordinating to ensure that owners of phonogram and audiovisual stores comply with the grace period prescribed in the above Ministerial Decision.
The ministry will be holding practical training courses for the staff concerned with enforcement after the completion of the current amendment procedures to the law. The Ministry is, in coordination with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WTO), preparing a draft law that harmonizes with international conventions especially the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
The Omani Copyright Protection Law was issued in 1996.