Bureau for Intellectual Property

A book, a work of art, a scientific investigation, they are all works created by an author. Copyright gives any person who has created a work the exclusive right to decide how his work will be exploited. Copyright protects the author against unauthorized use of his work by other persons. In part, it is thanks to the protection given by copyright that people remain creative.

Copyright includes two types of rights. The first is the exploitation right and the other is the moral right. The exploitation right is the exclusive right of the author to publish and multiply his work. The exclusive exploitation right allows the author to prohibit, for example, reproduction of his work in various forms such as: translation of his work into another language, dramatizing the work for the stage or recording the work on a compact disk. The moral right is the right of the author to, among other things, always being mentioned as the creator of his work and also to oppose any adaptation of the work.

The protection given by copyright commences right from the moment when the creator begins to create the work. The act regulating copyright in the Netherlands Antilles is referred to as Auteursverordening 1913, P.B. 1913, no. 3, i.e. the 1913 National Ordinance on Copyright, National Gazette 1913, No. 3. This act grants the author a copyright with a duration of up to 50 years after the author’s death.

Copyright is not bound by registration formalities. The Berne Convention on Protection of works of Literature and Art states that such right arises automatically. The creator of a work of art or literature is not bound by formal procedures or any other type of formalities to acquire copyright. The creator enjoys protection as from the moment when others can take notice of his work. As registration is not a requirement for you to obtain copyright, in case of violation of your right you should have sufficient proof that the work is yours. These proofs should bear a date which is the date of creation of the work. The Bureau for Intellectual Property has introduced the i-Envelope which can also be of help in this case. The i-Envelope is a means by which you can prove your date of creation.

In case of violation of copyright the 1913 National Ordinance on Copyright gives the author the possibility of suing the violator in either criminal or civil proceedings. In case of criminal proceedings the violator may have to pay a penalty or be punished by imprisonment. In case of civil proceedings the violator will have to pay damages. 

On March 26, 1995 the association “Corpus Mysticum” was founded. It is an association for copyright. In case of a dispute an author who is a member of the association may ask Corpus Mysticum for information, advice and assistance for mediation in a case of copyright violation. There is close cooperation between BIP and Corpus Mysticum on the matter of copyright. These two organizations work together and at various times have organized seminars on several topics such as copyright, piracy, copyright and the photographer.