1 TRANSLATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ... - APFA News

The Punakha Chimi referred to Part I where it states that the Act may be cited as
“The Industrial Property Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2001.” The Chimi
suggested that the Bhutanese year be incorporated into the title and this was
agreed by the Assembly. The Act would therefore be titled, “The Industrial
Property Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Year of the Iron Snake Year-2001.”
Apart from a few corrections to the grammatical and other such errors there
were no other comments or views expressed on the content of the Act.
Therefore, the National Assembly of Bhutan endorsed the Industrial Property
Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Year of the Iron Snake Year, 2001 on the 2 nd
day of the 5 th month of the Iron Snake Year corresponding to July 13, 2001.
XIII. The Copyright Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan
Towards the conclusion of the 78 th session of the National Assembly, the
Ministry of Trade and Industry has submitted a draft of the Copyright Act to all
the members so that it could be passed in the current session. Moreover, a
revised copy of the draft Copyright Act, 2001 was distributed on June 29, 2001,
and the debate on it was held on July 26, 2001.
The Hon’ble Minister for Trade and Industry said that the main purpose of the
copyright act is to protect and promote literary, scientific, graphic,
cinematographic and dramatic works of authors, publishers and the like.
According to the act, no one is allowed to copy, translate, sell, lease, license and
broadcast any of the above works without the prior permission of the author.
Besides Bhutanese authors, the act also extends to foreign authors residing in
Bhutan. It also extends to any country who has signed international copyright
conventions, and of which Bhutan is a signatory. However, the act does not
extend to any idea, concept, procedure, system, principle or any official text of
legislative, administrative or legal nature.
206