Page 1

CAMEROON
Law n o 2000/011 of 19 December 2000 relating to copyright and rights
neighbors
er

1. This law governs copyright and rights related to copyright
in Cameroon.
Title I
General provisions
2. For the application of this law and the regulatory acts resulting from it, we
means by:
1. “original work”, one which in its characteristic elements or in expression,
differs from previous works;
2. “collaborative work”, one the creation of which is the result of the competition of two or
several authors, whether or not this competition can be individualized;
3. “composite work”, one in which is incorporated a pre-existing work without the
collaboration of the author of the latter;
4. “audiovisual work”, that consisting of an animated series of linked images,
sound or not;
5. “posthumous work”, that made available to the public after the death of the author;
6. “anonymous work”, that which does not bear the name of its author;
7. “pseudonymous work”, that which designates the author by a fictitious name;
8. “work in the public domain” means a work for which the period of protection has expired;
9. “work inspired by folklore”, that composed from elements borrowed from
national traditional cultural heritage;
10. “folklore”, all the productions of characteristic elements of the heritage
traditional culture developed and perpetuated by a community or by individuals
recognized as meeting the expectations of this community, including

Page 2

including folk tales, popular dances and shows as well as
artistic expressions, rituals and folk art productions;
11. “computer program”, or “software”, the set of instructions which control
the computer performing certain tasks;
12. “database” or “data bank”, the collection of works, data or
other elements systematized in such a way that they can be searched for and processed using
a computer;
13. “commissioned work”, that created on behalf of a natural person or
legal entity called limited partner, in return for remuneration;
14. “collective work”, that created by several authors on the initiative and under the
liability of a natural or legal person who publishes it under his name, and in
which the contributions of the authors who participated in the creation of the work are
found in the work as a whole, without it being possible to identify the
contribution of each of the authors in this set;
15. “performers”, actors, singers, musicians, dancers and others
people who represent, sing, recite, play or perform any other
manner of literary or artistic works, including expressions of folklore;
16. “phonogram” means any fixation of sounds resulting from a performance or other
sounds, or a representation of sounds other than in the form of an incorporated fixation
in an audiovisual work;
17. “videogram” means any fixation of images whether or not accompanied by sound;
18. “program”, any set of images, sounds or images and sounds, which is
whether or not recorded and which is incorporated into signals intended for distribution;
19. “audiovisual communication company” means the broadcasting organization,
television or any other means which transmits programs to the public;
20. “phonogram producer” means the natural or legal person who is the first to
fixes the sounds coming from a performance or other sounds or a performance of
sons, or the natural or legal person who took the initiative for said fixation;
21. “videogram producer”, the natural or legal person who is the first to fix
images with or without sound, or the representation of such images, or the person
physical or legal person who took the initiative for said fixing;

Page 3

22. “publication” means making available to the public the original or a copy of a
literary or artistic work, performance, program, phonogram
or a videogram;
23. “rebroadcast” means the simultaneous or deferred transmission by a broadcasting company.
audiovisual communication of a program from another communication company
audiovisual.
Title II
Copyright
Chapter i
Protected works and ownership of rights
3. - 1) Are protected by this law, all works in the literary or
artistic, whatever the mode, value, genre or destination of
expression, including:
(a) literary works, including computer programs; -2b) musical compositions with or without words;
c) dramatic, dramatico-musical, choreographic and
pantomimics created for the stage;
d) audiovisual works;
e) works of drawing, painting, lithography, etching or on the
wood and other works of the same kind;
f) sculptures, bas-reliefs and mosaics of all kinds;
g) works of architecture, both drawings and models as well as
construction itself;
h) tapestries and objects created by artistic crafts and applied arts,
both the sketch or the model and the work itself;
i) maps as well as graphic and plastic drawings and reproductions of a nature
scientific or technical;

Page 4

j) photographic works to which are assimilated the works expressed by a
process analogous to photography.
2) Copyright relates to the expression by which ideas are described,
explained, illustrated. It extends to the characteristic elements of the works, such as the plan
of a literary work in so far as it is materially linked to expression.
3) Only expressions or elements
original characteristics that result from a creation.
4) Are not protected by copyright:
a) the ideas themselves;
b) laws, court decisions and other official texts, as well as their translations
official;
c) coats of arms, decorations, monetary signs and other official signs.
4.- 1) The work can be understood both in its primary and derivative form, or
composite.
2) In addition to the works cited in Article 3 above, are protected in particular as
composite works, without prejudice to the copyright in the pre-existing work:
a) translations, adaptations, arrangements or other modifications of works
literary or artistic;
b) collections of works, including those of expressions of folklore or simple facts or
data, such as encyclopedias, anthologies, data compilations,
whether they are reproduced on a machine-readable medium or in any other form
which, by the choice or arrangement of materials, constitute original works;
c) works inspired by folklore. -35. - 1) Folklore originally belongs to the national cultural heritage. 2) East
free the direct or indirect representation or fixation of folklore to
private purposes.
3) direct or indirect representation or fixation with a view to its exploitation
lucrative is subject to the prior authorization of the administration in charge of
culture, in return for payment of a royalty, the amount of which is set by

Page 5

regulatory according to the conditions in use in each of the categories of creation
considered.
4) The amount collected is transferred to a cultural policy support account.
6.- 1) The title of a work is protected like the work itself when it is
presents an original character.
2) No one may, even if the work is no longer protected, use its title to designate a
work of the same kind in the event that such use would create confusion
in the minds of the public.
7. - 1) The author is the natural person who has created a literary or artistic work.
An author is also the natural person who conceived a work and triggered the
realization by an automatic process.
2) The author of a work protected under this law is the first owner of the
copyright in said work.
3) The work is deemed to have been created independently of any disclosure, by the sole fact of
personal realization, even incomplete, of the conception. Is assimilated to the work
created the photographic work or any other work resulting from a realization using a
automatic process.
4) Unless proven otherwise, is the author or those under the name or pseudonym
of which the work is declared to the competent collective management organization or is
published.
8. - 1) The co-authors are the first co-owners of copyright in the work of
collaboration. However, unless otherwise agreed between the co-authors, if a work
collaboration can be divided into independent parts, each co-author is free
to operate the independent part he created while remaining joint rights holder
attached to the collaborative work considered as a whole. However, this
exploitation must not prejudice that of the common work.
2) The co-authors must exercise their rights by mutual agreement. The co-author who
takes the initiative to take legal action in defense of its economic rights is required to
penalty of inadmissibility of his request, to implicate his co-authors.
3) The updating of the elements of the work due to one of the co-authors cannot be made
without his consent or without formal notice to have to do so if he refuses to do so.

Page 6

4) The co-author who voluntarily allowed the collaborative work to be exploited without anything
claim has thus renounced to profit from this exploitation, but can exercise for
the future of co-authors' rights.
-4-

5) Unless otherwise agreed, the profits resulting from the exploitation of the work
return to each co-author in proportion to their contribution to the creation.
6) The collaborative work is subject to a collaboration agreement. In case of
disagreement, it is for the competent court to rule.
7) Notwithstanding the rights arising for the co-author from his contribution to the work of
collaboration, the other co-authors by mutual agreement, may terminate a
contribution that this co-author has not completed due to refusal or a case of force
major.
8) The collaborative work is deemed completed when the final version has been
established by mutual agreement between the co-authors. For collaborative works that
constitute commissioned works, the final version must have been drawn up
by mutual agreement between the co-authors and the sponsor.
9.- 1) Authors of pseudonymous or anonymous works enjoy the
prerogatives set out in article 13 below. However, until they do
know their civil identity, nor justified their status, they are represented by the publisher
of their works.
2) The provisions of the previous paragraph are not applicable when the
pseudonym leaves no doubt about the civil identity of the author.
10. The author of a composite work is the first owner of the copyright in it,
subject to respect for the copyright attached to each pre-existing work included
in the derivative work.
11. - 1) The first owner of copyright in a collective work is the person
physical or moral at the initiative and under the responsibility of which the work was created
and who published it under his name.
2) Unless otherwise stipulated, each author of a work included in the collective work
retains the right to exploit its contribution independently of the collective work, to
condition of not prejudicing the operation of the latter.

Page 7

12. - 1) In the case of a commissioned work, the author is the first holder of the
copyright. However, unless there is a contractual provision, the economic rights over said
work are considered transferred to the commissioner who exercises them in the
agreed limits.
2) The author exercises his moral rights over the commissioned work without harming the enjoyment
economic rights transferred.
3) In the case of a commissioned work used for advertising, the contract between the
commissioner and the author entails, unless otherwise specified, assignment to the commissioner
economic rights on the work, since this contract specifies the remuneration
separate due for each mode of exploitation of the work depending in particular on the
geographical area, the duration of the operation, the size of the circulation and the
nature of the support.
-5-

Chapter II
Attributes of copyright
13. - 1) The authors of works of the mind enjoy them, by the sole fact of their
creation of an exclusive property right that can be enforced against all, known as “copyright”, of which the
protection is organized by this law.
2) This right includes attributes of a moral order and attributes of a patrimonial order.
14. - 1) The attributes of a moral order confer on the author, independently of his rights
patrimonial and even after the transfer of said rights, the right:
a) to decide on the disclosure and to determine the procedures and modalities of this
disclosure;
b) to claim authorship of his work by requiring that his name or his capacity be
indicated whenever the work is made available to the public;
c) to defend the integrity of his work by opposing in particular its distortion or
mutilation;
d) to put an end to the distribution of his work and to make alterations to it.
2) The author cannot exercise the right of withdrawal and repentance referred to in paragraph 1) above
only at the expense of the prior compensation of the possible beneficiary of an authorization.

Page 8

3) Judicial reorganization or liquidation of assets justifies the automatic withdrawal of
the work by the author.
4) The attributes of a moral order are attached to the person of the author. They are
in particular perpetual, inalienable and imprescriptible.
15. - 1) The patrimonial attributes of copyright take precedence over the exclusive right
for the author to exploit or authorize the exploitation of his work in any form
whatever and derive a pecuniary benefit.
2) The right of exploitation includes the right of representation, the right of reproduction, the
right of transformation, right of distribution and right of resale.
3) Claims attached to the patrimonial attributes of copyright are subject to
under the same regime as salary claims.
16. - 1) By “representation” is meant the communication of a literary work
or artistic to the public, including making it available to the public in such a way that
everyone can access it where and when they individually choose. The
representation includes in particular:
a) the public recitation, dramatic performance and performance of the work by
any means or process;
(b) public display of the original or copies of a work of art;
-6-

c) television broadcasting, that is, broadcasting either wirelessly, such as radio broadcasting or
television, either by wire or any other similar technical device, of sounds, images,
texts or messages of the same nature.
2) The transmission of a work to a satellite is assimilated to a performance, even if
the aforementioned emission is carried out outside the national territory as soon as it was made at
the request, on behalf or under the control of a communications company
having its main establishment in the national territory.
17. - 1) By “reproduction” is meant the material fixation of all or part of a
literary or artistic work by any means that makes it possible to communicate it to the
public in an indirect way, including by permanent or temporary storage under
electronic form. It is carried out in particular by photography, printing, drawing,
engraving, casting, audiovisual, magnetic or mechanical recording.

Page 9

2) For a work of architecture, the repeated execution of a plan or a typical project
is equivalent to reproduction.
18. By “transformation” is meant the adaptation, translation, arrangement or
another modification of a literary or artistic work.
19. Distribution is the offer to sell, hire, sell, hire or any other act
circulation for payment of the original or copies of a work
literary or artistic.
20. - 1) The resale right confers on the author of graphic or plastic works or
manuscripts, notwithstanding any assignment of the original of the work or of the manuscript, a
inalienable right of participation in the proceeds of any sale of this original or this
manuscript made at public auction or through a merchant, which
whatever the terms of the transaction carried out by the latter.
2) The rate of this duty and the methods of collection are fixed by regulation.
3) This right is transferable by death.
21. - 1) The ownership of a work is independent of the ownership of the material object.
Unless otherwise stipulated, the purchaser of the original or a copy of a work is not
invested, as a result of this acquisition, with none of the copyrights provided for by this
law. These rights subsist in the person of the first owner of the copyright or of its
beneficiaries or successors who may not, however, require the purchaser to update
their arrangement of said object.
2) Unless otherwise stipulated and notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1) above,
the legitimate purchaser of an original or a copy of a work, enjoys the right to
direct presentation of this original or copy to the public.
3) The right provided for in paragraph 2) above does not extend to persons who have entered
in possession of originals or copies of a work by way of rental or any
other means without having acquired the property.
22. - 1) The exploitation of the work by a person other than the first owner of the
Copyright cannot take place without the prior authorization of the latter
-7-

or his successors in title or successors in title, given by any means leaving a written record, including
including electronic media.

Page 10

2) Writing is required under penalty of nullity.
3) The authorization to exploit a work may relate to all or part of the rights
patrimonial, free of charge or against payment.
4) When the authorization is total, its scope is limited to the operating modes
provided for in the act.
5) The authorization relating to audiovisual adaptation rights must be subject to a
writing distinct from that relating to the actual edition of the printed work.
6) The authorization is limited to the economic rights expressly mentioned in
the act. Each right is the subject of a separate mention.
7) The act of authorization determines the envisaged goals, the mode, the duration and the god place
operation is considered to limit the authorization to the country in which it is
granted.
8) Failure to mention the place of operation is considered to be limiting
the authorization to the country in which it is granted.
9) Failure to mention the place of operation is considered to be limiting
the authorization to the mode of operation necessary for the purposes envisaged when granting the
Licence.
23. - 1) The license agreement may or may not be exclusive.
(2) A non-exclusive license authorizes its holder to perform, in the manner prescribed for him
permitted, the acts that it concerns at the same time as the first holder of the right
copyright and other possible holders of non-exclusive licenses.
3) An exclusive license authorizes its holder to the exclusion of any other, including
first owner of the copyright, to perform in the manner authorized to him the acts
that it concerns.
4) No license shall be considered as an exclusive license unless stipulated
express in the contract between the first owner of the copyright and the owner of the
Licence.
24. - 1) The author's remuneration is proportional to the operating income.
2) It can be fixed in the following cases:

Page 11

a) the basis for calculating the proportional participation can hardly be
determined;
b) the control costs are out of proportion to the results to be achieved; vs)
the use of the work is only incidental in relation to
the object exploited.
3) When a fixed remuneration is fixed in violation of the rule provided for in paragraph
1), the remuneration amounts to 20% of operating income.
-8-

25. The beneficiary of the authorization must seek an effective operation in accordance with
to the uses of the profession and to the nature of the work.
26. The authorization to use all of the author's future works is void unless
it is made in favor of a collective management organization.
27. The clause by which the author undertakes not to create a work is deemed null.
28. Copyrights are transferable by death.
29. - 1) When the work has been published with the authorization of the author, this
last cannot prohibit:
a) private performances performed exclusively in a family circle,
provided that they do not give rise to any form of revenue;
b) performances performed free of charge for educational, school or
during a religious service and in the enclosures reserved for this purpose;
c) reproductions and transformations in a single copy intended for
strictly personal and private of the person who performs them, excluding any use
collective or any exploitation for profit, except in the cases provided for in
paragraphs 2) and 3) below;
d) analyzes, press reviews, short quotes justified by the character
critical, educational, scientific or information of the work, provided that they
are accompanied by the mention “source” and the name of the author, if this name appears
in the source;

Page 12

e) the use of literary or artistic works by way of illustration of teaching
by means of publication, television broadcast or sound recording or
visual, provided that such use is not abusive and that it is
of any lucrative nature;
f) parody, pastiche and caricature, taking into account the laws of the genre;
(g) Braille reproductions intended for the blind;
h) reproduction or transformation for purposes of evidence in proceedings
administrative or judicial.
2) Temporary reproduction of a work is permitted provided that this
reproduction:
a) take place during a digital transmission of the work or an act aimed at
make a work stored in digital form perceptible;
b) either carried out by a natural or legal person authorized by the holder of the right
author or by law, to carry out the said transmission of the work or the act aimed at
make it noticeable;
c) is of an ancillary nature in relation to the transmission, whether it takes place in the context of
normal use of the equipment and that it is automatically erased without
allow electronic recovery of the work for purposes other than those intended
in a) and b) above.
-9-

3) The limitation for private copying provided in paragraph 1) above does not apply:
a) the reproduction of works of architecture in the form of buildings or
similar constructions;
b) the reprographic reproduction of an entire book or of a musical work under
graphic form;
c) the reproduction of databases or databases and software, except in
cases provided for in Article 36;
d) no other reproduction of a work which would infringe the exploitation
normal work or which would cause undue prejudice to the legitimate interests of the
the author.

Page 13

30. Literary or artistic works seen, heard or recorded during a
current event can, for information purposes, and in short extracts, be
reproduced and made available to the public on the occasion of a report on this
event by means of photography or by telecast or any other
public communication process.
31. Unless the right of use is expressly reserved, news articles
political, social, economic or religious, political speeches, speeches
delivered in court proceedings as well as sermons, lectures, speeches
and other works of the same nature may be reproduced by the press or
broadcast in the original version or in translation. However, the source must always be
clearly indicated, as well as the name of the author.
32. - 1) Works of art, including works of architecture so placed
permanent in a public place, can be reproduced and made accessible to
public by means of photography or audiovisual.
2) Any profit-making use of these reproductions without
the prior authorization of the author of the works referred to in the previous paragraph.
33. - 1) When permission to broadcast has been granted to a broadcasting company
audiovisual communication, said authorization covers all communications
free audio or visuals performed by this company on its own
technical and artistic and under its responsibility.
2) The authorization referred to above does not extend to executions carried out in the
public places, such as cafes, restaurants, hotels, cabarets, shops
various, cultural centers, means of public transport, so-called private clubs for
which prior authorization must be requested.
34. Unless otherwise stipulated:
a) the authorization to broadcast a work over-the-air does not include the
cable distribution of that broadcast, unless it is done simultaneously and
entirely by the beneficiary organization of this authorization and without extension of the
conventionally planned geographical area;
b) permission to broadcast the work does not constitute permission to communicate the
broadcasting of this work in a place accessible to the public;
- 10 -

Page 14

(c) the authorization to broadcast the work over-the-air does not include its
transmission to a satellite allowing reception of this work via
third-party organizations, unless the author or his successors in title or successors
authorized these bodies to communicate the work to the public, in which case the body
issue is exempt from the payment of any remuneration.
35. - 1) For their broadcasts, broadcasters are permitted
audiovisual communication to proceed by their own means to
ephemeral recordings of works in one or more copies, whether they are
authorized to broadcast. These copies cannot be sold, rented or loaned.
2) Ephemeral recordings must be destroyed within three months, at
unless the owner of the reproduction right has expressly consented to a period of
longer storage.
3) Without prejudice to the author's right to equitable remuneration, the reproductions
may be preserved in the official archives.
36. - 1) For the rights of reproduction and transformation of software and databases
or databases, in addition to the exemptions provided for in Article 29.2), only
the exceptions provided for in this article are allowed.
2) The copyright owner may not prohibit the legitimate owner of software or
a database or database:
a) to reproduce the minor parts of this base or data bank; b) of
reproduce or transform this software or this database or database
data in accordance with its intended purpose, including correcting errors;
c) to reproduce this software or this database or database with a view to
replace in case they are lost, destroyed or rendered unusable;
d) to decompile, that is to say to reproduce and translate this software,
when these acts make it possible to obtain the information necessary to carry out a
software compatible with the latter or with one or more other software.
37. - 1) The economic rights of the author last all his life. They persist after his
death, during the current calendar year and the following fifty years. They
also persist for the benefit of all beneficiaries or successors during the year of
the death of the last survivor of the collaborators and the following fifty years for
collaborative works.

Page 15

2) The economic rights of author last for fifty years from
the end of the calendar year in which the work was published with the consent
of the author. If such publication has not taken place within fifty years from
from creation, the rights last fifty years from the end of the calendar year
of creation. It's the case :
a) audiovisual works; b) works of applied art; c) collective works.
- 11 -

3) For anonymous or pseudonymous works, the rights last for fifty years
that follow the end of the calendar year of the authorized publication. The duration is that of
paragraph 1) of this article if the pseudonym leaves no doubt about the civil identity
of the author or if the latter reveals it before the expiration of this
time limit. If no such publication has taken place within fifty years from the date of
creation, the rights last fifty years from the end of the calendar year of the
creation.
4) For posthumous works the duration is fifty years from the end of
the calendar year of the authorized publication of the work. Economic rights
belong to the copyright holders of the author or to the successors in title when the work is
published during the period provided for in paragraph 1) of this article. When the
publication took place at the expiration of this period, the rights belong to the owner
right or to the successor in title who proceeded or caused this publication to be made.
38. Posthumous works must be the subject of a separate publication, unless they are
constitute only a fragment of a previously published work. They cannot
be attached to other previously published works by the same owner only if the
beneficiaries or successors still enjoy the right to use them.
39. - 1) At the expiration of the periods of protection referred to in Article 37 above, the right
exclusive falls into the public domain.
2) The exploitation of works in the public domain is subject to respect for rights
moral standards, to a prior declaration addressed to the minister in charge of culture and to the
payment of a royalty, the proceeds of which are paid into the support account for
cultural policy provided for in article 5.4) above.
3) The royalty rate is set by regulation.
Chapter III

Page 16

The representation contract and the publishing contract
40. The representation contract is the agreement by which the holder of the right
author authorizes a show organizer to perform, have or let perform,
represent, make or allow to be represented publicly said work, according to the conditions
that they determine.
41. - 1) The representation contract is concluded for a limited period and for a period of
determined number of communications to the public. Unless expressly stipulated by law
exclusive, it does not confer any operating monopoly on the entertainment entrepreneur.
2) The public performance must take place under the conditions necessary to guarantee the
respect for the moral rights of the holder referred to in article 40 above.
3) The organization of shows is subject to obtaining an authorization and
payment by the organizer of a fee under the conditions set by way
regulatory. The show organizer cannot transfer the benefit of his
contract without the written consent of the copyright owner.
- 12 -

42. The publishing contract is the agreement by which the copyright owner
authorizes, under specified conditions, a person called an editor, to manufacture a
defined number of copies of the work, it being responsible for its publication.
43. - 1) The copyright owner is bound:
a) to guarantee the publisher peaceful exercise and, unless otherwise agreed,
exclusive of the right assigned or granted;
b) to ensure respect for this right and to defend it against any infringement;
c) to allow the publisher to fulfill his obligations and in particular to provide him with
a deadline stipulated in the contract, the object of the edition in a form which allows the manufacture
normal.
2) The publisher is required:
a) to carry out or have carried out the manufacture according to the conditions and according to the
modes of expression provided for in the contract;
b) not to make any modification to the work without the written permission of the owner of the
copyright;

Page 17

c) to include on each copy, unless otherwise agreed, the name,
pseudonym or trademark of the copyright owner;
d) to carry out, except special agreement, the edition within a time limit fixed by the uses of the
profession;
e) to ensure the work a permanent and continuous exploitation, as well as a distribution
commercial, in accordance with the practice of the profession;
f) to return to the copyright owner the subject matter of the edition after completion of the
manufacturing.
44. - 1) The publisher is also required to provide the copyright owner with all
justifications needed to establish the accuracy of its accounts.
2) The copyright owner may require, in the absence of special arrangements provided for
to the contract, at least once a year, the production by the publisher of a statement mentioning the
number of copies produced during the financial year and specifying the date and
the size of the prints, as well as the number of copies in stock.
3) Unless otherwise used or agreed, the state referred to in paragraph 2) above will mention
the number of copies sold by the publisher, those of unusable copies or
destroyed by fortuitous event or force majeure, as well as the amount of royalties due
or paid to the copyright owner.
45. - 1) When, in the event of receivership or liquidation of property,
the operation of the business is continued by the trustee or the liquidator,
this is bound by all the obligations of the publisher. Otherwise and
when no transfer of the said fund has taken place within one year from the
declaration of bankruptcy, the publishing contract may, at the request of the right holder
author, be terminated.
- 13 -

2) In the event of the sale of the business, the purchaser is bound by the obligations of the
transferor.
3) The trustee or the liquidator may not sell the copies on sale.
manufactured nor to their realization until at least fifteen days after having informed the holder of the
copyright of its intention by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt. The
owner of the copyright owns, on all or part of the copies, a right of
pre-emption. If no agreement is reached, the repurchase price will be set according to an expert opinion.

Page 18

46. - 1) The publisher may not transmit, free of charge or against payment, or by way of contribution
in a company, the benefit of the publishing contract to third parties, regardless of its fund
of commerce, without having previously obtained the authorization of the holder of the right
author.
2) In the event of the alienation of the goodwill likely to seriously compromise the
material or moral interests of the holder, he is entitled to obtain compensation even
by termination of the contract.
3) When the publishing business was operated as a company or depended on a
joint ownership, the allocation of the fund to one of the former partners or one of the joint owners, in
consequence of the liquidation or partition, can in no case be considered
like an assignment.
47. - 1) The publishing contract ends, regardless of the cases provided for by law
common or by the preceding articles, when the publisher proceeds to the total destruction
copies of the work.
2) Termination takes place automatically when, on formal notice from the holder of the right
author giving it a period of exhaustion, the publisher did not proceed with the republication.
The edition is considered to be sold out if two requests for delivery of copies
addressed to the publisher are not satisfied within six months.
3) In the event of the death, or, as the case may be, the dissolution of the copyright owner, if
the work is unfinished, the contract is terminated with regard to the part of the work not
terminated, except by agreement between the publisher and the beneficiaries or assigns of the said holder.
48. The copyright owner may grant a publisher a preferential right to
publishing his future works, provided they relate to a genre
determined. This right is however limited for each genre to five new works.
49. - 1) Does not constitute a publishing contract:
a) the so-called “author's account” contract by which the copyright owner pays to
the publisher an agreed remuneration, the latter responsible for producing in bulk,
in the form and according to the modes of expression determined in the contract,
copies of the work and ensure its publication and distribution. This contract
constitutes a work lease;
b) the so-called “half-account” contract by which the copyright owner charges a
publisher to manufacture at his own expense and in a determined number, in the form and according to the
modes of expression defined in the contract, copies of the work, and ensure the
publication and dissemination, with reciprocal commitment

Page 19

- 14 -

contracted to proportionately share the operating profits and losses. This
contract constitutes an association in participation.
2) The contracts referred to in the previous paragraph are deemed concluded only after approval
of the competent collective management body.
Chapter IV
Audiovisual production contract
50. The audiovisual production contract is the agreement by which one or
several natural persons undertake, in return for remuneration, to create a
audiovisual work for a natural or legal person referred to as a producer.
51. - 1) The contract between the producer and the authors of an audiovisual work, other
that the author of a musical work carries, unless otherwise provided and without prejudice
of the rights granted to the author, transfer for the benefit of the producer of exclusive rights
exploitation of the audiovisual work.
2) The audiovisual production contract does not entail the transfer to the producer of
graphic and theatrical rights to the work. It provides for the list of elements used to
the realization of the work that are kept, as well as the modalities of this
conservation.
3) The remuneration of the authors is due for each kind of exploitation. Subject to
of the provisions of Article 24 above, when the public pays a price to receive
communication of a determined and individualizable audiovisual work, the
remuneration is proportional to this price taking into account any declining tariffs
granted by the distributor. It is paid to the authors by the producer.
52. - 1) The producer provides, at least once a year, to the author and the co-authors, a
statement of income from the exploitation of the work, according to each mode
operating. At the request of the latter, it provides them with any justification specific to
establish the accuracy of the accounts, in particular the copy of the contracts by which he cedes to
third parties all or part of the rights at its disposal.
2) The author guarantees the producer the peaceful exercise of the transferred rights.
53. - 1) The producer is required to ensure that the audiovisual work is exploited
in accordance with the customs of the profession and the nature of the work.

Page 20

2) The producer must consult the director before any transfer of the work
audiovisual media on another type of medium with a view to another mode of operation.
54. With a view to the payment of the remuneration due to them for the operation of
the audiovisual work, the authors enjoy the same privilege as that provided for in
article 15.3) above.
55. - 1) Judicial reorganization or liquidation of property does not entail the
termination of the audiovisual production contract. When the realization or operation
of the work is continued, all the obligations of the producer towards the co-authors
must be respected by the trustee, administrator or any
- 15 -

person involved in the company's operations during the turnaround
judicial or liquidation of property.
2) In the event of the sale of all or part of the company or of liquidation, the administrator,
the debtor, the liquidator, as the case may be, is required to establish a separate lot for each
audiovisual work that may be the subject of a transfer or an auction. He
has the obligation to notify under penalty of nullity, each of the authors and co-producers of
the work by registered letter one month before any decision on the transfer or any
liquidation procedure. The purchaser is likewise bound by the obligations of the assignor.
The author and the co-authors have a right of pre-emption over the work, unless one of the
co-producers declares themselves the purchaser. If no agreement is reached, the purchase price is set to say
expert.
3) When the activity of the company has ceased for more than three months or when the
liquidation is pronounced, the author and the co-authors may request the termination of the
audiovisual production contract.
Title III
Rights related to copyright
56. - 1) Rights related to copyright include the rights of
performers, producers of phonograms or videograms and
audiovisual communication companies.
2) The enjoyment of the rights recognized to the listed natural and legal persons
above may not in any case infringe or limit copyright
exercise.

Page 21

57. - 1) The performer has the exclusive right to perform or authorize the following acts:
a) communication to the public of its interpretation, including making available to the
public, by wire or wireless, of its interpretation fixed on a phonogram or videogram,
so that everyone can access them wherever and whenever they choose
individually, except when communication to the public:
- is made from a fixation or communication to the public of the interpretation;
- is a rebroadcast authorized by the audiovisual communication company which
is the first to make the interpretation;
b) the fixation of its unfixed interpretation;
(c) the reproduction of a fixation of its performance;
d) distribution of a fixation of its performance, by sale, exchange, rental
to the public;
e) the separate use of sound and image of the performance, when this has been fixed
both for sound and picture.
2) In the absence of a contrary agreement:
- 16 -

a) any broadcasting license granted to a communications company
audiovisual is personal;
(b) permission to broadcast does not imply permission to fix the interpretation;
c) permission to broadcast and to fix the performance does not imply permission to
reproduce the fixation;
d) the authorization to fix the interpretation and to reproduce that fixation does not imply
authorization to televise the interpretation from the fixation or its reproductions.
58. - 1) The performer has the right to respect for his name, his quality and his
interpretation.
2) This right is attached to his person. It is notably perpetual, inalienable and
imprescriptible. It is transmissible through death.

Page 22

59. - (1) The producer of the phonogram enjoys the exclusive right to perform or
to authorize any reproduction, made available to the public by sale, exchange,
rental or communication to the public of the phonogram, including the making available
audience by wire and wireless of their phonogram, so that everyone can have
access where and when it chooses individually.
2) The rights granted to the producer of the phonogram by virtue of the preceding paragraph,
as well as the copyright and the rights of performers which it would have on
the fixed work cannot be the subject of separate transfers.
60. When a phonogram is put into circulation for commercial purposes, neither
the performer and the producer cannot oppose their direct communication
in a public place, as long as it is not used in a show, nor for its telecast
or to its simultaneous and complete distribution by cable.
61. - 1) The use under the conditions referred to in article 60 above of the
public phonograms for commercial purposes, regardless of the place of fixation of
these, opens the right to remuneration for the benefit of performers and producers.
2) This remuneration is paid by the people who use the phonograms
public for commercial purposes. It is based on operating revenues or, at
default, assessed on a flat-rate basis. It is divided by half between the performers
and producers of phonograms.
62. - 1) The scale of remuneration and the terms of payment of this
remuneration are established by the competent collective management body
consultation with the people using the phonograms under the targeted conditions
in Articles 59 and 61 above.
2) In the absence of agreement within six months of the entry into force of this law or within
the assumption that no agreement is reached at the expiration of a previous agreement, a
arbitration commission whose composition is determined by regulation
take a final decision on the matter.
63. - 1) Persons using phonograms for commercial purposes are
required, when fulfilling their obligations, to provide the organization with
- 17 -

responsible for collective management the exact programs of the uses to which they
process and all the documentary elements essential to the distribution of rights.

Page 23

2) The remuneration provided for in this title is received on behalf of the beneficiaries
or successors and distributed among them by the competent management body
collective.
64. - 1) The producer of the videogram enjoys the exclusive right to perform or
to authorize any reproduction, made available to the public by sale, exchange,
rental, or communication to the public of the videogram, including the making available
audience, by wire or wireless, of their videogram, so that everyone can
have access where and when they individually choose.
2) The rights recognized to the producer of the videogram by virtue of the previous paragraph,
as well as the copyrights and the rights of performers, which it would have on
the fixed work cannot be the subject of separate transfers.
65. The audiovisual communication company enjoys the exclusive right to perform or
to authorize:
- the fixation, the reproduction of the fixation, the rebroadcasting of programs and the
communication to the public of its programs, including making it available to the public,
by wire or wireless, of its programs so that everyone can access them at
where and when he chooses individually;
- making its programs available to the public by sale, rental or exchange.
66. The authorizations referred to in this Title must, on pain of nullity, be given
by any means that leaves a written record, including electronic media.
67. - 1) The beneficiaries of the rights granted under this title may not prohibit:
a) private and free performances performed exclusively in a circle
family;
b) reproductions strictly reserved for the private use of the person making them
and not intended for collective use;
(c) subject to sufficient elements identifying the source:
- analyzes and short quotes justified by the critical, polemical nature,
educational, scientific or information of the work in which they are incorporated;
- press reviews;
- the dissemination, even complete for information, topicality, of speeches intended for
public in political, administrative, judicial or academic assemblies,

Page 24

as well as in public meetings of a political nature and ceremonies
official;
d) parody, pastiche and caricature, taking into account the laws of the genre.
- 18 -

2) Performers may not prohibit reproduction or communication
publicity of their performances if they are incidental to an event constituting a
main subject of a sequence, work or audiovisual document.
68. The duration of the economic rights, subject of this title is fifty years to
count:
- the end of the calendar year of fixation, for phonograms, videograms and
interpretations fixed therein;
- the end of the calendar year of execution, for interpretations not fixed on
phonograms or videograms;
- the end of the calendar year of broadcasting, for the programs of the companies of
audiovisual communication.
Title IV
Remuneration for private copying Chapter I
Remuneration for private copying
commercial phonograms and videograms
69. Authors and performers of works and performances fixed on
phonograms or videograms, as well as the producers of such phonograms or
videograms, are entitled to remuneration for reproduction intended for
strictly personal and private use.
70. - 1) The remuneration provided for in the previous article is paid by the manufacturer or
the importer of the recording media usable for reproduction for
deprived of works or performances fixed on phonograms or videograms during
putting them into circulation in Cameroon.
2) The amount of remuneration depends on the type of support and the duration
recording that it allows.

Page 25

71. - 1) Types of support, rates of remuneration and payment methods
are determined by regulation.
2) The remuneration provided for in this chapter is received on behalf of the beneficiaries
rights or successors by the competent collective management body.
3) Remuneration for private copying of phonograms or videograms shall benefit
equal shares to authors, performers, producers and fund
support for the cultural policy provided for in article 5.4) above.
- 19 -

Chapter II
Remuneration for private copying of printed works
72. Authors of printed works and publishers of such works have the right to a
remuneration for reproduction intended for strictly personal use and
private.
73. The remuneration provided for in this article is paid by the manufacturer or
the importer of the machines and usable for reproduction for private use, of a work
printed, when these machines are put into circulation in Cameroon.
74. - 1) The types of machinery subject to remuneration and the rate of this
remuneration, as well as the terms of payment are determined by
regulatory.
2) The remuneration provided for in this chapter is received on behalf of the beneficiaries
rights or successors by the competent collective management body.
3) Remuneration for private copying of printed works benefits equally
authors, publishers and the cultural policy support fund provided for in the article
5.4) above.
Title V
Collective management
75. - (1) The owners of copyright or neighboring rights may, for the purposes of
the exercise of their rights, create organizations for the collective management of copyright
and neighboring rights.

Page 26

2) Only one organization can be created per category of copyright and rights
neighbors. The categories are determined by gender and by necessary association.
3) The provisions of paragraph 1) of this article are without prejudice to the
faculty belonging to authors and holders of neighboring rights to exercise directly
the rights recognized to them by this law.
76. The procedures for controlling the creation and functioning of
collective management of copyright and rights related to copyright are set by
regulatory route.
77. - 1) May be members of a collective management organization, authors,
performers, producers of phonograms and videograms,
publishers or their successors in title.
2) Unless otherwise agreed, the act of affiliation to an organization confers on it
mandate of its member to carry out any act of collective management, such as
the authorization of exploitation of works, the collection and distribution of royalties,
legal defense of rights.
- 20 -

78. - 1) Collective management organizations must make available to
interested persons the repertoire of their members and their works.
2) Collective management organizations must use their income according to a scale
determined by their statutes and other fundamental texts approved by the Minister
responsible for culture.
79. - 1) Any collective management organization is required to communicate to the Minister
responsible for the culture spontaneously or at the request of the latter:
a) its annual accounts;
b) changes to its statutes and other fundamental texts as well as to the rules
collection and distribution of duties, at least one month before their examination by
the general Assembly;
c) cooperation agreements and other agreements concluded with third parties;
d) decisions of the general assembly;
e) balance sheets and reports, as well as the auditor's report;

Page 27

f) the names of its representatives.
2) The Minister responsible for culture or his representative may collect, on
documents and on site, the information mentioned in this article.
Title VI
Offenses, penalties and procedures
80. Is constitutive of counterfeiting:
a) any exploitation of a literary or artistic work made in violation of this
law, by representation, reproduction, transformation or distribution by any means
whether it be;
b) any reproduction, communication to the public or made available to the public by
sale, exchange, rental of an interpretation, a phonogram, a videogram,
performed without permission when required, from the performer, the producer
phonogram or videogram, or communication company
audiovisual;
c) any violation of moral rights, by violation of the right of disclosure, of the right to
authorship or the right to respect for a literary or artistic work;
d) any infringement of the right to paternity and the right to the integrity of the provision of
the performer.
81. - 1) Is assimilated to counterfeiting:
(a) the import, export, sale or offer for sale of the infringing articles;
- 21 -

b) the importation or exportation of phonograms or videograms produced without
authorization when required, from the performer or producer of
phonograms or videograms;
(c) knowingly manufacturing or importing for sale or hire, or
install any equipment, material, device or instrument designed in whole or in part to
fraudulently receive television programs when these programs are
reserved for a specific public which accesses it in return for a remuneration paid to its
operator or his successors in title or successors in title;

Page 28

d) the fraudulent circumvention of effective technical measures of which the holders of
copyright and neighboring rights are used for the protection of their production
against unauthorized acts;
e) allowing reproduction or representation in his establishment in a manner
irregular productions protected under this law;
f) failure to pay or unjustified delay in paying a stipulated remuneration
by this law;
g) the fact of carrying out the following acts, knowing or, for civil sanctions, in
having good reason to believe that this act will lead to, allow, facilitate or
conceal an infringement of a right provided for by this law:
- delete or modify without being authorized to do so, any information relating to the
rights in electronic form;
- distribute, import for distribution, communicate to the public without being there
authorized, originals or copies of works, interpretations,
videograms, phonograms, programs, knowing that the information
relating to the rights regime in electronic form have been
deleted or modified without authorization.
2) By “information on the rights regime” is meant information which
make it possible to identify the work, performance, videogram, phonogram or
program, or information on the terms and conditions of use of these
productions and any number or code representing this information when one of these
information is attached to the copy of a production or is linked to the
communication of a production to the public.
82. - 1) The offenses referred to in Articles 80 and 81 are punishable by imprisonment
from five (5) years to ten (10) years and a fine of 500,000 to 10,000,000 Francs
DWI or one of these two penalties only.
2) The penalties provided for in this article are doubled when the offender
is the contracting party of the holder of the infringed right.
83. Breaches of the provisions of article 20 above may result in
joint order for damages by the court for the benefit of
beneficiaries of the resale right, the purchaser, the seller and the person responsible for
proceed to the public auction.

Page 29

84. - 1) In any event, the court may order the confiscation of
counterfeit copies, material used in the commission of the offense,
same as the receipts it would have provided to the offender.
- 22 -

2) The material used by the infringer and the infringing copies may be
destroyed.
3) The court may order the publication of the decision under the conditions provided for
in article 33 of the Criminal Code.
85. - 1) When their rights are violated or threatened to be violated, persons
natural or legal persons or their successors in title or successors in title, holders of the rights concerned
by this law, may require a judicial police officer or a bailiff
justice to note the offenses and, if necessary, seize, with the authorization of the Public Prosecutor
of the Republic or the competent judge, the counterfeit copies, the copies
and articles illegally imported and the resulting material, having been used or intended to be used for
a representation or a reproduction, installed for such prohibited acts.
2) The president of the competent civil court may also, by order on request,
decide to :
a) the suspension of any manufacture in progress tending to the illicit reproduction of a
artwork;
b) the suspension of illicit public performances or performances;
c) the seizure, even on non-working days or outside legal hours, of
copies constituting an illicit reproduction of the work, already produced or in progress
manufacturing, recipes made as well as counterfeit copies;
d) seizure of material used in manufacturing;
e) seizure of revenue from any exploitation carried out in violation
copyright or neighboring rights.
86. - 1) Within fifteen days of the date of the report of seizure, the garnishee or the third party
seized may ask the president of the court to limit the effects, or
to authorize the resumption of production or that of representations, under the authority of a
administrator appointed receiver, to whom will belong the products of this manufacture
or this exploitation.

Page 30

2) The president of the court ruling in summary proceedings may, if he / she grants a request by the seized party
or the garnishee, order the applicant to deposit a sum
carried out to guarantee the damages to which the author could claim.
87. Failure by the seizor to seize the competent court within fifteen days of
the seizure, release of this seizure may be ordered, at the request of the garnishee or the
seized third party, by the president of the court ruling in summary proceedings.
88. When the operating income accruing to the owner of the copyright and rights
neighbors are subject to seizure, the president of the competent civil court may
order the payment to the author, as maintenance, of a certain sum or
fixed amount of the sums seized.
89. When, by goods which have just been cleared, a party carries
infringement of copyright or related rights, the president of the court may order it
to cease the violation.
- 23 -

90. - (1) When the owner of the copyright or related rights suspects
the imminent import or export of goods that violate his rights, he may
ask the minister in charge of customs or the president of the court to make
suspend by the customs authorities the release for free circulation of the aforesaid
merchandise.
2) The applicant must, in support of his request, provide a description of the
goods and prove the infringement under the law of the importing country or the
this law.
3) In order to allow the plaintiff to initiate and justify his legal action,
the customs administration must provide him with all the information relating to
goods detained, notwithstanding the provisions of the customs code relating to
professional secret. The carrier, the freight forwarder, the declarant, the stevedore or any
another person is subject to the same obligation.
4) The judge or the minister may require a deposit from the applicant.
5) The importer or exporter and the applicant are informed of the suspension within
the five days following the decision.
6) Ten (10) days after the applicant has been informed of the suspension, if the
customs authorities are unaware that a person other than the defendant has not entered the

Page 31

competent court on the merits, or if the competent authority has extended the
suspension, it will be lifted.
7) The claimant must make reparation for the damage caused by the unjustified detention of the
merchandise.
91. For the application of the above penal provisions, the opposition periods and
of appeal are respectively fifteen (15) days and one (1) month from the date of
service of judgment.
Title VII
Scope of the law
92. Works, performances, phonograms, videograms and
Cameroonian programs are protected by this law. In the event of joint ownership, he
it suffices that one of the holders is Cameroonian.
93. - 1) Foreigners in Cameroon enjoy copyright or neighboring rights
of which they are holders, on condition that the law of the State of which they are nationals or
on the territory of which they have their domicile, their registered office or an establishment
protects the rights of Cameroonians.
2) Copyright and related rights enjoyed by foreigners are protected
in accordance with this law.
94. The provisions of this law relating to the protection of literary works and
artistic performances, phonograms, videograms and programs
apply to works that are entitled to protection under an international treaty
to which Cameroon is a party.
- 24 -

95. Any question prior to the main problem of the protection of the rights of
foreigners, in particular the question of determining the status of rights holder,
is regulated by this law.
Title VIII
Transitional and final provisions
96. Collective management organizations are required to comply with the provisions
of this law within twelve (12) months following its entry into force.

Page 32

97. This law, which repeals all previous contrary provisions, in particular the
Law N o 90/010 of 10 August 1990, will be recorded and published according to the procedure
emergency, then inserted in the Official Journal in French and English.
- 25 -

