UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Amir Alkhaja, Gerry Rogers, Daria Selivanova and Danila Kriuchkov, Habib Al Mulla & Partners
• damages or account of profits, supported by technical expert evidence; • customs recordal to block imports; and • criminal penalties for wilful infringement or fal - sification – fines of at least AED100,000 and possible imprisonment. 7.4 Copyright Under UAE Federal Decree-Law No 38/2021 on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights, copyright relates to both economic rights (eg, reproduc - tion, distribution, public performance, commu - nication to the public, translation, adaptation, rental, lending) and moral rights (eg, attribution, integrity, first publication, withdrawal) in original literary, artistic, musical, audiovisual, architec - tural, software and other creative works. Economic rights endure for the author’s lifetime plus 50 years from the first January following their death. Collective works, anonymous or pseudonymous creations, posthumous publi - cations, performers’ performances, phonograms and broadcast recordings typically enjoy 50 years of protection from first publication, fixa - tion, or broadcast. Applied art works are pro - tected for 25 years from initial publication. Copyright protection arises automatically upon creation and fixation; registration is optional but may bolster enforcement. Enforcement may be pursued through: • civil courts or IP tribunals, with summary and full proceedings available; • interim measures, including ex parte orders to stop publication, seize copies and profits, and preserve evidence. Final remedies: • injunctions to restrain infringing acts;
• damages, account of profits, or both; • destruction or confiscation of infringing cop - ies; and • criminal sanctions for wilful infringement: ini - tial penalties are two months of imprisonment and AED10,000–100,000 fine; repeat offences attract up to nine months and AED500,000– 1 million, plus seizure, confiscation and pos - sible business closure or publication of the conviction. 7.5 Others UAE law recognises software as a copyright- protected literary work. Databases, whether compiled data or electronic systems, are also protected, both under copyright and, where applicable, under sui generis rights. Software code (source and object) and databases (struc - ture, selection, ordering) fall within copyright protection, which arises automatically upon creation and fixation. The UAE does not have a single federal trade secrets law. Instead, confidential information, even if not registerable, is protected under the Civil Code, the Penal Code, the Labour Law, the Commercial Companies Law and the Pat - ent Law. Traditional UAE courts do not typically grant per - manent injunctions in trade secrets cases, but may order confiscation of materials, fines and civil relief.
8. Data Protection 8.1 Applicable Regulations
Federal Decree-Law No 45 of 2021 on the Pro - tection of Personal Data (PDPL), effective 2 Jan - uary 2022, provides the primary federal frame - work for personal data protection in the UAE. It
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