The minutes of report and seizure are drafted by one of
the officers of judiciary police indicated in point 1 of
paragraph one of this article or two agents among those
indicated in points 2, 3 or 4 of paragraph one of this article,
having carried out personally and directly the report of the
infringement or the seizure.
The minutes shall comprise the first name of the
judiciary police officer or of each of the two agents who
drafted as well as his name, quality, rank, signature and
shall carry the seal of the administration to which he
belongs,
He shall also comprise the declarations of the offender
or his representative, as well as his signature.
It is mentioned the absence of the offender or his
representative if it does not appear, or the refusal of
signature when he is present.
The minutes shall also mention the date and place of the
report or the seizure and the information of the offender or
his representative of the subject of the reported
infringement or the seizure, if he is present, or to address
him a copy of the minutes by registered mail, in the event
of absence, and proving the transmission of the
aforementioned copy to the interested party.
The minutes of the report and seizure are addressed
within seven days to the relevant public prosecutor, who
transmits them to the competent court to rule on the
confirmation or the lifting of the seizure within a deadline
which should not exceed one month as from the date of the
realization of the seizure. If the court does not rule on the
seizure within the prescribed deadlines, the seizure is
automatically lifted.
The responsibility of the departments, to which the
agents mentioned in paragraph one of this article belong
may in no case be engaged if they do not manage to
recognize the suspected products not respecting the
copyrights and similar rights.
Article 55 (new):
The competent courts may, when ruling on the
substance, automatically order or at the request of the
holder of the not respected right or his representative, the
confiscation or destruction of copies, material or means
having been mainly used for the achievement of the
infringement.
They may also order the suspension of activity subject
of the infringement in the premises where it was reported,
temporarily for a period not exceeding six months or on a
final basis in the event of relapse.
They may order the publication of the judgment in its
entirety or partially in the newspapers which they indicate
by fixing the duration of publication, and the posting of a
copy of this judgment in the places that they indicate at the
expenses of the convicted person.
Article 56 (new):
The provisions of the law herein relating to the
copyrights apply to:
a- the works whose original author or any other holder
of the copyright is Tunisian, or has his usual residence or its
registered office in Tunisia,
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b- the audio-visual works whose producer is Tunisian,
or has his usual residence or its registered office in Tunisia,
c- the works published for the first time in Tunisia or
those published in Tunisia in the thirty days following their
first publication in another country,
d- the works of architecture erected in Tunisia or the
works of fine arts incorporated in a building located in
Tunisia.
The provisions of the law herein relating to the
copyrights apply to the works which are entitled to
protection according to an international convention ratified
by the Tunisian State.
Article 57 (new):
The provisions of the law herein relating to the similar
rights apply to:
a) the interpretations when:
- the interpreter artist is Tunisian,
- the interpretation takes place on the Tunisian territory,
- the interpretation is fixed on an audio or audio-visual
recording protected by the law herein or when it was not
fixed, it was incorporated in a radio or television broadcast
protected by the law herein.
b) the audios or audio-visual recordings when:
- the producer is Tunisian,
- the first fixing of the sound or the image and sound,
was carried out in Tunisia,
- the audio or audio-visual recording was published for
the first time in Tunisia.
c) the radio or television broadcast when:
- the registered office of the organization of radio and
television is located in Tunisia;
- the radio or television broadcast is diffused from a
station located in Tunisia.
The provisions of the law herein also apply to the
interpretations, the audio-visual recordings audios or the
radio or television broadcasts, protected by an international
convention ratified by the Tunisian State.
Article 2 :
It is added to law n° 94-36 darted 24 February
1994, relating to the literary and artistic property, a last
dash and a last paragraph to article one, a last
paragraph to article 4, articles 9-bis-, 9-ter -, a last
paragraph to article 39, article 42 -bis -, articles 50 bis
to 50-sexies- and article 54 –bis-:
Article one :
last dash:
- digital works.
last paragraph:
The protection of the copyright extends to the
expressions and does not cover:
- Ideas, procedures, methods of operation or
mathematical concepts, as such.
- Official texts of legislative, administrative or legal
nature and their official translations.
Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia — 30 June 2009
N° 52