Copyright registration in the UAE

Is registration required?

No. Article 4 of the copyright law says that not registering a work does not affect its protection. Registration creates an official record of the work, its author and owner — which makes it much easier to prove your rights in a dispute, with platforms or with customs.

What you can register

• Books, articles and other written works
• Software, smart applications (apps) and databases
• Music, audiovisual works and photographs
• Drawings, paintings, designs and other artistic works
• Lectures, plays and other creative works

Ideas, methods and pure data are not protected — only the way they are expressed.

How to register with the Ministry

1. Use the “Intellectual works rights registration” service on the Ministry’s website or smart app.
2. Submit the work and the author and owner details.
3. Pay the fee: AED 50 per author (individuals) or AED 200 (companies and institutions).
4. The certificate is issued after review — about 3 working days on average. An application left incomplete for 60 days after notice is cancelled.

How long copyright lasts

• Individual authors: their lifetime plus 50 years, counted from 1 January after the year of death.
• Collective works owned by a company: 50 years from first publication.
• Works of applied art: 25 years from first publication.

Copyright and trademarks

Copyright protects the creative work (for example your logo artwork or app code); a trademark protects the brand name or logo as a sign of origin. Brands usually need both — register the trademark and keep proof that you own the logo’s copyright.

Questions