# Copyright in Malaysia

> Copyright arises automatically with no registration in Malaysia — so the only thing worth buying is evidence, and MyIPO's voluntary notification costs RM200.

- Category: business
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-07-20
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/business/copyright-malaysia

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There is nothing to register. Copyright in Malaysia is not granted by an office;
it exists the moment an original work is reduced to material form. Which means
the only sensible question is not "how do I register it" but "how do I prove, two
years from now, that it was mine on that date".

## When does copyright exist?

Three conditions, all from the Copyright Act 1987: the work falls in an eligible
category — literary, musical or artistic works, films, sound recordings,
broadcasts, published editions and derivative works; sufficient effort has been
expended to make the work original in character; and the work has been written
down, recorded or otherwise reduced to material form.

It does not extend to any idea, procedure, method of operation or mathematical
concept. A business process is not protected. The document describing it is.

## The evidence problem, and the RM200 answer

Automatic protection is generous until you have to enforce it. Then you are
proving authorship, date and originality from your own files.

Sections 26A to 26C give a cheap fix. A notification of copyright may be made to
the Controller by or on behalf of the owner or an assignee, stating the owner's
name, address and nationality, the category and title of the work, the author's
name, and the date and place of first publication. The Controller enters it in
the Register of Copyright, and **s.26B(5) makes a certified extract prima facie
evidence of the particulars entered, admissible in all courts.**

| Matter | Form | Fee (RM) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Notification of copyright in a work | CR-1 | 200 |
| Additional fee where filed by a representative or on behalf of the owner or assignee | CR-3 | 30 |
| Administration fee where the notification is made manually | — | 50 |
| Deposit of an electronic copy, each additional 1GB above 3GB | — | 20 |
| Amendment to a notification | CR-4 | 30 |
| Correction of a clerical error | CR-6 | 30 |
| Additional certificate of notification | CR-9 | 100 per copy |
| Certified extract | — | 10 per page |
| Notification of change of address | CR-10 | 20 |
| Notification of assignment, licence or testamentary disposition | CR-11 | 50 |
| Examination of the Register | CR-8 | 20 per hour |

The Copyright (Reduction of Fee) Regulations 2025 halve the CR-1 fee for
literary works, musical works, films, sound recordings and derivative works — but
only on dates published in the Intellectual Property Official Journal or on
MyIPO's website, and only for a capped number of notifications. Treat RM200 as
the real budget.

Section 42 is the second, even cheaper route: an affidavit or statutory
declaration by or on behalf of a person claiming to be the copyright owner,
stating that copyright subsisted at the specified time, that he or the named
person is the owner, and that the annexed copy is a true copy, is admissible in
any proceedings under the Act and is prima facie evidence of the facts it
contains. Section 42(2) requires anyone acting on the owner's behalf to produce
written authorisation.

## Assignments must be in writing

Section 27(3) is short and fatal: no assignment of copyright and no licence to do
an act controlled by copyright has effect unless it is in writing. A verbal
agreement with a freelancer transfers nothing. Section 27(6) does allow an
assignment or licence over a future work, which is the mechanism a proper
contractor agreement uses.

Who owns it in the first place — and why Malaysia differs sharply from the
countries most startup templates are drafted for — is covered separately in the
IP ownership guide.

## Common mistakes

**Paying someone to "register your copyright".** There is no registration.
What exists is voluntary notification, it costs RM200, and you can file it
yourself.

**Notifying the wrong owner.** The Register records what you tell it. If the work
was commissioned and s.26(2) has already deemed the copyright transferred to the
commissioner, a notification naming the author is prima facie evidence of the
wrong thing.

**Relying on a verbal licence.** Section 27(3) makes it ineffective, however long
the relationship has run.

**Assuming the © symbol does something legal here.** It does not create, extend or
strengthen the right. Dating and archiving the source files does more.

## What's next

If the work matters commercially — core software, a product manual, a design
library — notify it. If it was made by a contractor or an employee, settle
ownership first, because notifying a work you do not own is worse than not
notifying it at all.

## Sources

- Copyright Act 1987 (Act 332) — https://www.myipo.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Copyright-Act-1987-Act-332.pdf (MyIPO)
- Notifying Copyright — forms and fees — https://www.myipo.gov.my/notifying-copyright/ (MyIPO)
- Copyright Basic — criteria, duration and rights — https://www.myipo.gov.my/copyright-basic/ (MyIPO)
- Copyright (Reduction of Fee) Regulations 2025, P.U. (A) 130/2025 — https://lom.agc.gov.my/ilims/upload/portal/akta/outputp/2831290/P.U.%20(A)%20130_2025.pdf (Attorney General's Chambers)

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