Defamation and copyright act

Aysha ZubaidNeha ImtiazFatima Karim

Defamation O Defamation is that which tends to

injure reputation; to diminish the esteem, respect, goodwill or confidence in which the plaintiff is held, or to excite adverse, derogatory or unpleasant feelings or opinions against him.

Continue…O Statement which exposes person to

contempt, hatred, ridicule(mockery) or humiliation. The unprivileged publication of false statements which naturally and proximately result in injury to another.

O A communication is defamatory if it tends so to harm the reputation of another as to lower him in the estimation of the community or to deter third persons from associating or dealing with him.

Defamation according to Pakistani Law

ODefamation ordinance of 2002

ODefamation Act of 2004

Defamation ordinance of 2002

O According to Section 3 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002:

O Any wrongful act or publication or circulation of a false statement or representation made orally /written/visual form which injures the reputation of a person, tends to lower him in the estimation of others or tends to reduce him to ridicule, unjust criticism, dislike, contempt or hatred shall be actionable as defamation.

Continue…Defamation is of two forms:1. Any false oral statement or

representation that amounts to defamation shall be actionable as slander(insult).

2. Any false written documentary or visual statement made either by ordinary form or expression or by electronic or other modern means or devices that amounts to defamation shall be actionable as libel(defame).

Section 4,5O Section 4: makes the Defamation actionable:O Publication of defamatory matter is not

actable without proof of special damage to the person defamed.

O Defenses provided in Section 5:O he was not the author, editor, publisher or

printer of the statement complained of;O it is based on truth and was made for public

good;O assent was given for the publication by the

plaintiff(applicant);

Section 6,8O Section 6 of the Defamation Ordinance certain acts

of the government does not come within the ambit of defamation, these are called absolute privileges.

O Section 8 prescribes that notice of action must be given by the plaintiff to the defendant before any legal action would be taken by the plaintiff against the defendant: No action lies unless the plaintiff has, within 2 months after the publication of the defamatory matter has come to this notice or knowledge, given to the defendant, fourteen days notice in writing of his intention to bring an action, specifying the defamatory matter complained of.

Section 9,10O Section 9 gives remedies in case the defamation is

proved: Remedies: Where Defamation shall be proved to have occurred, the Court may pass order directing the defendant to render an apology, if acceptable to the plaintiff, and publish the same in similar manner and with the same prominence as the defamatory statement made and pay reasonable compensatory damages as general damages with a minimum of Rs. 50,000 (Rupees fifty thousand) and in addition thereto, any special damage incurred that is proved by the plaintiff to the satisfaction of the Court.

O Section 10 says that CPC and Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order will apply mutatis mutandis to the defamation proceedings.

Section 12,15O Section 12: Limitation for doing an action

against:O an author, editor, proprietor or publisher of a

newspaper;O the owner of broadcasting station;O an officer, servant or employee of the

newspaper or broadcasting stationO Section 15: An appeal against the final

decision and decree of the Court shall lie to the High Court within 30 days and the High Court shall decide the appeal within sixty days.

Pakistan penal CodeO According to Section 499 of the Pakistan

Penal Code, 1860, Defamation has been described as under:

O Whoever by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by sign or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter excepted, to defame that person.

Defamation act of 2004O An Act to amend the Defamation

Ordinance, 2002, the Pakistan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

AmendmentsO Courts means “ district courts”O Originator means “initiator”O Prison replaced by 3 hundred

thousand rupeesO Time for filing case after publishing

was reduced from 6 months to 90 days

Famous Defamation cases of Pakistan

O Najam sethi sued Mubashar LuqmanO Jang group/Geo News sued ISIO ISI/ministry of Defense sued Jang

groupO Jang group sued ARY news channel

Copyright O  Copyright is based on the notion that a person

who creates or produces creative work, has a right to decide how the fruit of his talent, skill & labor should be reproduced. Without this protection, nobody would be encouraged to be creative.

O Earlier, this was relevant mainly to the publishing business, film industry & music industry. But with the advent of the IT revolution the copyright law has found new application in protecting computer programs, software & content put up on the internet.

Copyright law in Pakistan

O The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in Pakistan is the Copyright Ordinance, 1962 as amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance, 2000.

Copyright Ordinance, 1962

O Objects of copyrightO literary works (including computer programmers; excluding

speeches)O dramatic worksO musical works (i.e. any combination of melody and harmony or

either of them, produced or reproduced graphically)O records (i.e. any disc, tape, wire, perforated roll or other

device in which sounds are embodied)O artistic works (i.e. painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving or a

photograph, an architectural work of art and any other work of artistic craftsmanship)

O cinematographic worksO and includes compilationsO Foreign works are covered by section 54 read with

the International Copyright Order, 1968.

Owner of copyright

O The first owner of copyright in general is the author (exceptions: works for hire, Government works

O The owner of copyright may assign the copyright, or grant any interest in the copyright by license . Licenses may also be granted by the Copyright Board to republish a work withheld from the public

Term of copyright

O Copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work published within the life time of the author subsists until 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies

O Copyright in a cinematographic work, a record or a photograph subsists until 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the publication of the work .

O If a work is not published within 50 years after the death of the author or, the author being unknown, within 50 years after its creation, it falls into the public domain

Copyright violation

O When copyright is violated , the owner of copyright (as well as the exclusive licensee) is entitled to certain civil remedies (injunction, damages, accounts; s. 60), either before the Court of the District Judge or the Copyright Board.

O Infringing copies may not be imported or exported and may be seized by the police .

O Copyright infringement may also lead to criminal charges  to be tried by no court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the first class .

O The Federal Investigation Agency can take cognizance of such cases where violation of some Government work is involved

No violation

O Certain acts are said not to constitute an infringement of copyright .

O fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work for the purpose of research, private study, criticism, review or reporting current events O in relation to a literary or dramatic work in prose: single extract up

to 400 words, or a series of extracts (with comments interposed) up to a total of 800 words with no one extract exceeding 300 words

O in relation to a literary or dramatic work in poetry: extract up to a total of 40 lines and in no case exceeding one fourth of the whole

O the making of up to 3 copies of a book by a public or non-profit library for its use if such book is not available for sale

O the reproduction or publication of certain Government worksO the making or publishing of a painting, drawing, engraving or

photograph of an architectural work of art or a sculpture or other artistic work if such work is permanently situated in a public

Legislative response

O Pakistan updated its copyright law with amendments in 1992.However, no significant progress against pervasive copyright piracy was made until 1994, when raids against video piracy began. The International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended last year that Pakistan remain on the Watch List, and USTR agreed, while noting "greater efforts to combat copyright piracy".

O http://zallp.com/defamation.htmlO http://www.lawofpakistan.com/pakist

anpenalcode/499.phpO http://pakistanmediasafety.org/index.

php/media-law/defamation-amendment-act-2004

O http://www.dawn.com/news/1110985/geo-news-to-sue-isi-for-defamation

O http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Pakistan