SRI LANKA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anomi Wanigasekera, Sabeera Shariff and Saambavi Siththananthan, Julius & Creasy
• importation of copies of the work (even where the imported copies were made with the authorisation of the owner of the copyright); • public display of the original or a copy of the work; • other communication of the work to the public. Economic rights can be transferred, and the transfer should be written and signed by the parties. Accord - ing to Section 16 (1), the owner of a copyright may: • grant a licence to a physical person or legal entity to carry out all or any of the acts relating to the economic rights referred to in Section 9; and • assign or transfer in whole or any part of the eco - nomic rights referred to in Section 9. Moral Rights • public performance of the work; • broadcasting of the work; and According to Section 10 (1), the author of a work shall, independently of their economic rights and even where they are no longer the owner of those economic rights, have the following rights: • the right to have their name indicated prominently on the copies and in connection with any public use of their work, as far as is practicable; • the right to use a pseudonym and not have their name indicated on the copies and in connection with any public use of their work; and • the right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, their work which would be prejudicial to their honour or reputation. 3.5 Term of Protection and Termination Section 13 (1) of the IP Act states that, subject to the provisions of Section 13 (2) to 13 (5), the economic and moral rights shall be protected during the life of the author and for 70 years after their death. 3.6 Collective Rights Management Systems On examination of Sri Lankan legislation, specific mention of collective management organisations (CMOs) is found in Section 25 of the IP Act. Section 25 (1) aims to simplify the operations of CMOs by imposing a general limitation on their activi -
ties, subject to the subsequent provisions of the Act. Notably, Section 25 (1)(c) grants the Director-General of Intellectual Property the authority to permit the ini - tiation or continuation of businesses related to the collective management of copyrights and associated rights. This provision delineates the legal framework governing the Director-General’s responsibilities, functions and powers concerning the oversight of CMOs. Additionally, Section 25 (2)(b) states that such organisations are permitted to enter into agreements with foreign societies or entities that manage copy - rights and related rights. According to Section 25 of the IP Act, only a collec - tive society registered with the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (NIPO) is authorised to commence or carry on the business of issuing or granting licences in respect of copyright and related rights of music artists or owners who are members of their societies. Such provision was made necessary and introduced as there can be multiple organisations claiming rights over the same musical work, and it would be impossible for broadcasters to ascertain who actually owned such copyright. The Authors, Composers & Publishers Organisation of Sri Lanka (ACPO) and the Outstanding Song Crea - tor’s Association (OSCA) are the two organisations currently functioning as CMOs. Technically, ACPO functions on behalf of lyricists, musical composers and publishers, while OSCA acts on behalf of singers to collect royalties from relevant institutions. Extraordinary Gazette No 1687/28, dated 5 January 2011, declared minimum payments that should be paid to lyricists, musicians and singers of songs, for broadcasts of their songs or substantial parts there - of. However, the aforesaid Extraordinary Gazette was repealed by Extraordinary Gazette No 2128/6, dated 17 June 2019 (Intellectual Property Regulation (Songs and Musical Work) No 1 of 2019), which for the first time introduced regulations with regard to the use of copyright-protected songs in music and song-related competitions (reality shows) organised by television media. Extraordinary Gazette No 2164/70, dated 28 February 2020, introduced the “minimum payment to be paid as
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