September 28, 1979, and
- Having listened to the discussions of the Council of Ministers,
The President of the Republic issues an order that reads as follows:
Preliminary Provisions
Article 1: This Law aims at introducing copyrights and neighboring rights, as well as the
protected literary or artistic works, and identifying penalties entailing infringement of such
rights.
Article 2: The provisions of this Law shall guarantee the protection of the rights of:
- The author of literary or artistic works, the performer or the musician, the producer of audio or
audio and video recordings, and institutions of audio or audio / video radio broadcasting.
- Rules for the collective enforcement of rights and the protection of traditional cultural heritage
and national works of public property.
PART I
PROTECTION OF WORKS & COPYRIGHTS
Chapter 1
Protected Works
Article 3: Each original innovator of a literary or artistic work shall be granted the rights
provided for herein.
Protection shall be granted, whatever the type of the work is, its manner of expression, level of
ownership and destination, once the work is filed whether it is established or not by a medium
that allows its notification to the public.
Article 4: The following shall be in particular categorized as protected literary or artistic works:
a. Written literary works such as: literary attempts, scientific and technical research, novels,
stories, poems, computer software, oral works such as lectures, speeches and sermons and the
like,
b. All theatre plays, drama, musical and rhythmic works and pantomimic works,
c. Musical works, chanted or silently acted,
d. Cinematographic works and other audio video works whether accompanied or not with
sounds,
e. Works of plastic and applied arts such as: drawing, oil painting, sculpture, carving, lithography
and Zaraby art,
f. Drawings, diagrams, mini-geometrical models of art, architecture and technological
installations,
g. Charts, maps, and drawings related to topography, geography or sciences,