BELIZE COPYRIGHT ACT CHAPTER 252, REVISED 2000

Belize is a nation set on the Caribbean Sea in Central America, situated between Guatemala and Mexico. A historic setting of several Mayan city states, the former colony of British Honduras declared itself independent in 1981. Growth has been 4% since 2000, and recent petroleum discoveries promise a new flow of foreign direct investment.
This nation of 300,000 is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO"). Belize passed a copyright law in 1980 and was revised in 2000. The country is listed in the "Ease of Doing Business" publication as ranking 59th out of 178 world economies, and is listed the 3rd easiest in terms of getting paperwork approved.

The following questions are answered to better understand copyright protection in Belize: What are the Categories of Protected Works?; What is the Duration of Copyright Protection?; What is the Law Regarding Objection to Treatment of Work?; What is the Right to Privacy, Regarding Commissioned Photographs and Films?



What are the Categories of Protected Works?
Belize Copyright Act lists the Protected Works in section 7th.

The legally protected categories are "(a) original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works; (b) sound recordings, films, broadcasts or cable programmes; and (c) typographical arrangements of published editions."

Such literary, dramatic or musical works must be written down, recorded or somehow put in material form, including downloading to computer, to be eligible for copyright. This can be done with or without the author's permission. The creation can also be part of another work.

Broadcasts can be copyrighted if made in Belize by a transmitting station that owns a valid license granted under the Broadcasting and Television Act or created in specified countries in compliance with laws regulating such broadcasts. A broadcast infringing the copyright of another broadcast or cable program cannot itself be copyrighted.

Cable programs can be copyrighted if created within or outside Belize, if such transmissions are in accord with applicable laws. But this protection does not hold for any cable program if included in a cable program that infringes copyright, itself.



What is the Duration of Copyright Protection?
The Duration of Copyright Protection is located in section 10 of Belize Copyright Act.

Copyright for any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work expires after fifty years from the end of the year in which the author dies. If the authorship of a work is unknown, copyright protection expires at the expiration of the period of fifty years from the end of the year when the work was first made available to the public. If the author becomes known after the end of that period, the first rule applies.

Computer-generated work copyright lasts fifty years from the end of the year in which the work was created. For a work of joint ownership, the death of the last author is used as the author's life period.

Copyright for a sound recording or film expires at fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which it was made, or from the point it is made available to the public.



What is the Law Regarding Objection to Treatment of Work?
The Objection to Treatment of Work is located in section 16.

Any holder of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic copyright shall have the right "not to have the work subjected to derogatory treatment." Derogatory treatment is defined as, "the treatment of a work is derogatory if it amounts to distortion or mutilation of the work, or is otherwise prejudicial to the honor or reputation of the author or director."



What is the Right to Privacy, Regarding Commissioned Photographs and Films?
The Right to privacy for photographs and films is found in section 18.

Here, the law states that an individual who commissions a private or domestic taking of their photograph or the likewise making of a film, has the right to protect such a work so as not to have copies of the work released to the public; or have such work exhibited or displayed publicly, or to have the work broadcasted on television or on a cable program.