50% discount on copyright applications to help owners preserve their creations
KUALA LUMPUR: The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) is offering a 50 per cent fee reduction for Voluntary Copyright Notification Applications over a period of six months starting this Saturday (April 26) in conjunction with the National Intellectual Property Day 2025 Celebration.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the fee reduction applies to musical works, sound recordings and music-related works protected under the Copyright Act 1987.
'If we want to fight, increase, improve the protection related to copyright, including music royalties, it must start with the awareness of the stakeholders themselves such as creators, owners of works and artists.
'So we hope that the industry, the owners of works and also the creators will be able to take advantage of this opportunity (fee discount) to make IP (intellectual property) applications,' he said at the National Intellectual Property Day 2025 Celebration themed 'Our Music Belongs to Us' at Menara MyIPO, today.
According to Armizan, although a total of 9,363 copyright applications were recorded last year involving seven categories of works, only 95 applications involved musical works while 65 were for sound recordings.
As of April 15, he said of the 1,958 applications for copyright registration, only three were for musical works and 23 were for sound recordings.
Hence, he said awareness programmes should be increased to strengthen understanding and encourage stakeholders to apply for copyright registration to preserve their respective works.
Meanwhile, Armizan also informed that KPDN through MyIPO is committed to strengthening capacity building through strategic collaboration, including through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).
The MoU, which was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Malaysia last week, aims to renew the cooperation that has been in place since 2015.
'This collaboration is to expand the scope of cooperation involving the field of intellectual property including information exchange, strategy development and implementation of best practices for the mutual benefit of both countries,' he said.
Among the essence of the MoU is related to the protection of geographical indications that have the potential to stimulate local economic development through the recognition of unique products in an area, capacity and technology development, as well as the empowerment of patent inspection, he said.
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