OMAN LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Said Al-Shahry, Thamer Al-Shahry, Jeremy Pooley, Maria Mariam Rabeaa Petrou, Shadha Al Kharusi and Salim Al Harthi, Said Al Shahry & Partners (SASLO )
7.5 Others Under the Penal Code, a person who becomes acquainted with a secret by virtue of their profes - sion, occupation or work and (without the con - sent of the concerned person) discloses it other than in the circumstances permitted by law, or uses it for their personal benefit or the benefit of another person, may be imprisoned for between one month and one year.
Before the author’s work is published, an author or their representative may deposit an applica - tion for protection of their work to the MOCIIP in the prescribed form, together with three copies of the work. The Copyright Law considers such a deposit tantamount to ownership. The appli - cant will be provided with a deposit number, and the deposit will then be published in the Official Gazette. Thereafter, an application is submitted to the Ministry for the data deposit certificate for the work. The financial rights of an author of a literary work, including computer programs, are pro - tected during their life and for 70 years starting from the commencement of the calendar year following the year of their death. Registration of title to the authorship of a work acts as proof of ownership to the work (Regis - tered Owner), and the onus to prove that the work does not belong to the Registered Owner is on the infringer. In addition to the civil and penal remedies available, a titleholder is entitled to remedies at borders and interim/ex parte rem - edies. Civil remedies include orders to prevent the export/import of the goods involved in the infringement, orders to cease the infringement, and claims for compensation based on losses incurred and profits made by the infringer. If copyright infringement is established, the court must pass a judgment to confiscate any assets resulting from the infringement. Except in excep - tional cases, the court must also order the con - fiscation of all the commodities involved in the infringement and the material and equipment used to commit the act of infringement and order their destruction at the expense of the judgment debtor or their disposal outside the trade chan - nels if the destruction is liable to undermine pub - lic health or the environment.
8. Data Protection 8.1 Applicable Regulations
Oman has issued its first comprehensive per - sonal data protection law, enacted by RD 6/2022 (DPL). The DPL came into force on 13 Febru - ary 2023 and was further supplemented by the Executive Regulations issued by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (the MOTCIT) pursuant to Ministerial Decision 34/2024 (the “Regulations”). The DPL introduces matters such as the rights of the data subject and the obligations of control - lers and processors of personal data. The DPL applies to any processing of personal data, which is defined in the DPL as data that makes a natural person identifiable, directly or indirectly, by reference to one or more identifiers. Identifiers include but are not limited to an indi - vidual’s name, civil identification number or other data related to an individual’s genetic, physical or mental identity. Article 3 of the DPL sets out certain circum - stances in which the provisions of the DPL will not apply to the processing of personal data. These circumstances include but are not limited to the following:
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