The registration of copyright in Colombia allows a work to be recorded with the Colombian National Copyright Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Derecho de Autor - DNDA) and provides evidence of its authorship, ownership and registration date. Copyright protection arises upon creation of the work and does not depend on registration; accordingly, registration is declaratory rather than constitutive of rights.
What is copyright?
Copyright comprises the body of legal rules that protects authors and other right holders in relation to original literary, artistic or scientific works, regardless of their genre, form of expression, merit or intended purpose.
This protection has two principal dimensions: moral rights, which recognize the personal relationship between an author and their work, and economic rights, which allow the right holder to authorize or prohibit certain uses, including reproduction, distribution, communication to the public, adaptation and making the work available to the public, as applicable.
What works may be registered?
Original works may be registered when they have been expressed or embodied in a form that allows them to be perceived, reproduced or disclosed. These include:
- Literary works, books, articles, manuals, research papers, scripts and academic texts
- Dramatic, theatrical and choreographic works
- Computer programs, applications and software developments
- Databases that are original by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents
- Audiovisual works, films, documentaries, videos and animations
- Musical works, with or without lyrics
- Photographs, illustrations, paintings, sculptures and other artistic works
- Plans, designs and architectural works
- Phonograms and copyright- or related-rights agreements and legal acts, where registration is available
Ideas, concepts, methods, procedures, systems and projects considered in the abstract are not protected by copyright. Protection extends to the original form in which those ideas are expressed.
Protection of works without registration
In Colombia, an original work is protected from the moment of its creation, without any requirement to register it or comply with another formality. Failure to register does not prevent the author from exercising the rights recognized under applicable law.
Nevertheless, registration is legally advisable because it provides evidence of the facts and legal acts recorded in the register, unless proven otherwise, and facilitates proof of authorship or ownership in negotiations, licenses, assignments, claims and disputes.
Which authority registers copyright works?
Registration is handled by the Colombian National Copyright Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Derecho de Autor - DNDA), an agency attached to the Ministry of the Interior and the competent administrative authority in Colombia for copyright and related rights.
The applicable registration category and supporting documents depend on the nature of the work. For example, the material required for a literary work may differ from that required for an audiovisual, musical or artistic work or a computer program.
General registration requirements
Although the specific requirements vary depending on the type of work and the circumstances of each application, the following information and documents are generally required:
- Identification and contact information for the author or authors
- Information concerning the owner of the economic rights, where that person or entity is different from the author
- The title, nature and other descriptive information concerning the work
- A copy or embodiment of the work in a format accepted for the relevant registration category
- Documents evidencing transfers, assignments, commissioned works, employment relationships or other relevant legal acts, where applicable
- A power of attorney, where the application is filed through legal counsel
Before filing an application, it is advisable to identify correctly who qualifies as the author, who owns the economic rights and which documents evidence any transfer of rights. The existence of an employment relationship, an independent contractor agreement or payment for the creation of a work does not, in itself and in every case, mean that all economic rights have been transferred.
Applicable legal framework
Copyright in Colombia is governed, among other provisions, by Decision 351 of the Andean Community, Law 23 of 1982 and its amending and supplementary legislation, including Law 1915 of 2018.
The application of these provisions must be assessed in light of the characteristics of the work, the manner in which it was created, the identity of its authors and right holders, the agreements entered into and the intended uses or forms of exploitation.
Legal advice on copyright registration
Cárdenas Vega Asesores advises clients on the registration of works, software, creative content and copyright-related legal acts and agreements. Our services may include identifying the appropriate registration category, reviewing authorship and ownership, preparing the required documents, and filing and prosecuting the application before the Colombian National Copyright Directorate.
Frequently asked questions about copyright registration
Must a work be registered to qualify for protection?
No. Protection arises upon creation of the original work and is not conditional upon registration. Nevertheless, registration constitutes a particularly useful means of proving the information recorded in the register.
Does copyright registration protect an idea?
No. Copyright protects the original form in which an idea is expressed or embodied, but it does not protect the abstract idea, method, concept or procedure considered independently.
Can software be registered?
Yes. Computer programs may be registered with the DNDA. Depending on the characteristics of the development, the filing may include source code, a sufficiently detailed description of the program or other supporting material accepted by the authority.
Does registration automatically make the applicant the copyright owner?
Not necessarily. Registration gives rise to a rebuttable presumption that the facts and legal acts recorded in the register are accurate, without prejudice to third-party rights. The information included in the application should therefore reflect the actual legal status of the work and be supported by the relevant documentation.