The law (Law-No.-2000-011-of-December-19-2000-on-Copyright-and-Neighbouring-Rights) shall protect all literary or artistic works, irrespective of the mode, worth, genre or purpose of the expression, notably:
(a) Literary works, including computer programs;
(b) Musical compositions with or without lyrics;
(c) Dramatic, dramatico-musical, choreographic works and pantomimes created for the stage;
(d) Audiovisual works;
(e) Drawings, paintings, lithographs, etchings or wood engravings and other works of the same genre;
(f) All kinds of sculptures, bas-reliefs and mosaics;
(g) Architectural works, including the drawings, models and the construction itself;
(h) Tapestries and objects created by the arts and applied arts, including the sketches or patterns and the works themselves;
(i) Maps as well as graphic and plastic drawings and reproductions of a scientific or technical nature;
(j) Photographic works including works expressed by a process similar to photography.
SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT IN THE CAMEROON MUSIC INDUSTRY
Copyright shall relate to the expression through which ideas are described, explained and illustrated. It shall cover the distinctive features of works, such as the plan of a literary work insofar as it is materially linked to the expression.
This law shall protect only expressions or original distinctive features resulting from a creation.
WHAT COPYRIGHT SHALL NOT PROTECT IN THE CAMEROON MUSIC INDUSTRY
Copyright in the Cameroon music industry shall not protect:
(a) ideas in themselves;
(b) laws, court judgments and other official instruments, as well as their official translations;
(c) coats of arms, decorations, currency marks and other official insignia.
THE SCOPE OF WORKS UNDER THE COPYRIGHT REGIME OF THE CAMEROON MUSIC INDUSTRY
A work shall refer to a creation not only in its original form, but also in its derivative or composite forms.
In addition to the works referred to in Section 3 of the law, the following shall be protected as composite works, without prejudice to the copyright in the already existing work:
(a) Translations, adaptations, arrangements or other alterations of literary or artistic works;
(b) Collections of works, including those which express folklore or simple facts or data, such as encyclopædias, anthologies, compiled data, which are reproduced either on machine readable mediums or on any other form which, by the choice or arrangement of their contents, constitute original works;
(c) folklore-inspired works.
FOLKLORE INSPIRED WORK
Folklore shall belong originally to the national cultural heritage.
The representation or direct or indirect fixation of folklore for private purposes shall is allowed.
Its representation, direct or indirect fixation for profit-making purposes shall be subject to prior authorization from the service in charge of culture, in return for payment of royalty whose amount shall be fixed by statutory instrument following the conditions applicable in each of the categories of creation considered.
The amount received shall be deposited in a cultural policy support fund.
PROTECTION OF TITLE OF WORK
The title of a work shall be protected as the work itself insofar as it has an original feature.
Even when the work is no longer protected, no one may use its title for another work of the same genre when such use is likely to cause confusion in the mind of the public.
AUTHOR
The author shall be the individual who created a literary or artistic work. The author shall equally be the individual who designed the work and initiated its realization by an automatic process.
The author of a work protected by virtue of this law shall be the holder of the copyright in the said work.
The work shall be deemed to be created independently of any disclosure, solely from the personal though incomplete realization of the design, even where such design is incomplete. A photographic work or any other work resulting from a realization through an automatic process shall be considered as a created work.
Except where otherwise proved, the author shall be the person(s) in whose name(s) or pseudonym(s) the declaration of the work was filed with the competent collective management body or was published.
CO-AUTHORS
Co-authors shall be the first joint holders of the copyright in a joint work.
However, except where otherwise agreed between the co-authors, if a joint work can be divided into independent parts, each co-author shall be free to use the independent part which he created while remaining a joint holder of the rights linked to the joint work considered as a whole. However, the use shall not be prejudicial to that of the joint work.
Co-authors shall exercise their rights by mutual agreement. The co-author who takes the initiative of going to court to defend his patrimonial rights shall be bound, under pain of inadmissibility, to involve his co-authors.
The updating of the components of a work belonging to one of the co-authors may not be done without his consent or without a formal notification to do so if he objects.
The co-author who voluntarily allows the exploitation of a joint work without making any claims shall be considered as having disclaimed the profits derived from the exploitation. However, he may exercise the rights of co-author in future.
Except as otherwise agreed, the share of each co-author in profits derived from exploiting the work shall be proportionate to his contribution in the creation.
A joint work shall be subject to a collaboration agreement. In case of disagreement, the court with jurisdiction shall rule.
Notwithstanding the rights of the co-author arising from his contribution to a joint work, the other co-authors may, by mutual agreement, put an end to the contribution which this co-author did not complete following a refusal or in a case of force majeure.
The joint work shall be considered as having been completed when the final version was established by mutual agreement between the co-authors. For joint works which are commissioned works, the final version shall be established by mutual agreement between the co-authors and the person who commissioned the work.
AUTHORS OF PSEUDONYMOUS OR ANONYMOUS WORKS
Authors of pseudonymous or anonymous works shall enjoy in respect thereof the advantages referred to in Section 13 of the law. However, they shall be represented by the publisher of their works where they failed to indicate their civil identity or to justify their capacity.
The provisions of the law shall not be applicable when the pseudonym leaves no doubt as to the civil identity of the author.
The author of a composite work shall be the first holder of the copyright in the work, subject to the respect of the copyright in each pre-existing work included in the derivative work.
The first holder of the copyright in a work jointly produced shall be the individual or body corporate on whose initiative and under whose responsibility the work was created and that published it in its name.
Except as otherwise provided, each author of a work included in the collective work shall keep the right to use his contribution independently of the joint work, provided that it is not prejudicial to the use of the said work.
In the case of a commissioned work, the first holder of the copyright shall be the author. However, except as agreed, the patrimonial rights in such work shall be considered as having been transferred to the person who places the commission, who shall exercise the rights within the agreed limits.
The author shall exercise his moral rights in the commissioned work without undermining the enjoyment of the transferred patrimonial rights.
In the case of a commissioned work used for advertisement, the contract between the sponsor and the author shall, except as otherwise provided, lead to the transfer to the sponsor of the patrimonial rights in the work, provided the contract specifies the special payment for each mode of use for the work, especially depending on the geographical zone, the duration of use, the size of the run and the type of medium.