• 31 Jul, 2026
  • Updated 15 Oct, 2026
  • Trademarks
  • IP Sewa Admin
  • 14 min read

Copyright infringement in Nepal is governed by the Copyright Act 2002 (2059 BS). Sec. 25 lists the acts that count as infringement, Sec. 35 sends cases to the District Court, and Sec. 38 gives you three months from knowing about it.

Key takeaways

  • The statute is the Copyright Act 2002, cited here by its Bikram Sambat year, 2059.
  • Sec. 5(1): registration "shall not be required to acquire the right".
  • Sec. 25 sets out seven infringing acts, narrower than most people assume.
  • Permitted uses are a closed list in Sec. 16 to Sec. 23, not an open balancing test.
  • Criticism, review, parody and commentary appear nowhere in it.
  • The Registrar under Sec. 30 administers it, not the Department of Industry.
  • Sec. 38 imposes a three-month limitation that catches owners who wait.

One statute: the Copyright Act 2002, which Nepali practitioners call the Copyright Act 2059 after its Bikram Sambat year. Both names mean the same text.

So a document citing "2059" is citing the current copyright law.

It is not the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, which covers trademarks, patents and designs. Mixing the two is the commonest error in Nepali IP correspondence.

No — Sec. 5(1) is blunt about it: registration of a work, sound recording, performance or broadcast "shall not be required to acquire the right under this Act".

Section 5(2) allows voluntary registration with the Registrar. That creates an official document, not the underlying right.

So the real value of registering is evidential, because a dated official entry is far easier to produce in a dispute than a folder of drafts.

Who owns the work in the first place?

Sec. 6(1) gives first ownership of the economic right to the author. The exceptions in Sec. 6(2) are where disputes start.

Where a work is prepared "on payment of remuneration", the economic right vests in whoever paid. Where it is made at another's direction, it vests in them.

For an audiovisual work the producer holds it unless the contract says otherwise, and for an anonymous work the publisher does until authorship is proved.

How the Copyright Act 2002 sorts a useA decision tree. The first question asks whether the material is a protected work under Section 2 and Section 3. If it is, the next question asks whether the owner gave permission under Section 24. If not, the third question asks whether the use fits one of the permitted uses listed in Sections 16 to 23. If it fits, the use is lawful. If it does not, the use falls to be tested against the seven acts listed in Section 25.Three questions, in this orderMost arguments skip straight to the third and lose1. A protected work?Sec. 2 and Sec. 3 saywhat counts.2. Permission given?Sec. 24 wants it inwriting.3. On the list?Sec. 16 to Sec. 23,and nothing else.Yes: lawful useName the source where asked.NoTest it against the seven acts in Sec. 25.Selling, advertising, adaptation, circumvention devices.There is no fourth question.No general fairness test exists in the Act.
The Act runs a closed list, so "was it fair?" is not one of the questions.

What does Sec. 25 actually make unlawful?

Seven of them, and Sec. 25(1)(a) is the main one: reproducing copies of a work or sound recording and selling, distributing, publicly communicating or renting them without authority.

It also catches a licensee who breaks the terms of the licence.

Clause (b) is copying a work to advertise, "with a motive of taking advantage of the reputation gained by that work".

Clause (c) covers changing a work's form or language for economic benefit, and clause (d) targets an adaptation meant to pass as the original.

Clauses (e) to (g) are hardware: devices that defeat copy protection, equipment for encrypted broadcasts, and machinery whose sole object is infringement.

Section 25(2) catches the seller who knows, or has adequate ground to believe, the copies were published in breach.

Sec. 14(1): the author's life plus fifty years from the year of death. Section 14(2) runs a joint work from the last surviving author.

Sections 14(3) and 14(4) cover commissioned, directed and anonymous works: fifty years from first publication or from the date made public, whichever is earlier.

The exception people miss is Sec. 14(5): applied art and photographic works get twenty-five years from the year of preparation.

Section 15 covers a work published after the author's death: fifty years from the year of publication.

Is there fair use in Nepal?

The phrase appears once in the whole Act, in Sec. 17, and it does not mean what an American reader expects.

Sec. 17 allows "some portions of a published work" to be cited for fair use, provided the citation does not prejudice the owner's economic right and the source and author are named.

That is a quotation right with an attribution condition, not a general defence.

Search the Act for criticism, review, parody or commentary and you find nothing. Those words belong to other countries' statutes.

What uses are permitted without asking?

Chapter 4, Sec. 16 to Sec. 23, is a closed list. A use neither on it nor licensed is exposed.

  • Sec. 16 — some portions of a published work for personal use, carved back by Sec. 16(2) for architectural designs, significant parts of books and digitally transmitted databases.
  • Sec. 17 — citation for fair use, with the source and the author's name given.
  • Sec. 18 — teaching: a small portion as citation or audiovisual aid, plus classroom reproduction, broadcast or exhibition, each naming the source.
  • Section 19 — a public library or archive making one replacement copy of a lost, destroyed, old or unobtainable work.
  • Sec. 20 — news and current-event reporting, subject to Sec. 20(2) where the author prohibited it.
  • Section 21 — one backup copy of a lawfully acquired computer program.
  • Section 22 — importing one copy of a work for personal purposes.
  • Section 23 — public display, but not by film, slide, television image or screen.

Yes — Sec. 8(1) gives the author moral rights "irrespective of whether that author has the economic right to that work".

They cover being named, having a chosen pseudonym used, and preventing mutilation that undermines the author's reputation.

Section 24(2) allows a transfer only by written agreement, effective after death, keeping the author's name on the work.

So a client who bought the economic right to a photograph did not buy the right to strip the credit.

Sec. 30 lets the Government designate an officer as the Registrar, who monitors the royalty collecting body and hears complaints about the royalty it fixes.

The Department of Industry does not. It runs industrial property under the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, a separate regime.

Sec. 35(1) gives the concerned District Court power to try and settle cases punishable under the Act, following the Summary Procedures Act 1971.

Section 36 lets that court order a party to stop the activity while the case runs — the nearest thing here to an interim injunction.

The clocks that start when you find outA timeline. At day zero the owner learns of the infringement and preserves evidence. A complaint to the police under Section 32 can lead to search and seizure. A customs application under Section 34 can hold goods for ten working days at a time, up to twenty in total. The case must be filed in the District Court within three months of knowledge under Section 38. An appeal against a Registrar decision runs thirty-five days under Section 31.Deadlines run from knowledge, not from harmThe three-month limit is the one that ends most claimsDay zeroYou learn of it.Sec. 32.Police may seize.Sec. 34.Customs may hold.Sec. 35.District Court.Preserve the file,the dates and theagreement.An inspector orabove investigatesunder Sec. 37.Ten working daysat a time, twentyat the most.Summary procedureapplies. Sec. 36 thencan stop the act.Sec. 38: three months from knowledge of the infringement.Sec. 31 gives thirty-five days to appeal a Registrar decision.
A timeline, not a promise. Confirm each deadline with a lawyer before relying on it.

Can the police or customs get involved?

Yes, which surprises owners who assume copyright is purely private. Sec. 32(1) lets a person complain to the police, who may stop the copies being sold and may search and seize them.

Section 32(2) extends that to the machinery, and Section 33 provides for destruction witnessed by the District Administration Office and the local body.

Sec. 34 lets a Customs Officer hold suspected unauthorised imports for ten working days at a time, twenty in total, on an evidenced application or the officer's own suspicion.

Sec. 37(1) makes offences under Sections 27 and 28 state cases, investigated by a police officer of at least inspector rank.

What penalties and compensation does the Act provide?

Sec. 27(1) provides a fine within a statutory range, or imprisonment of up to six months, or both — with a higher band and up to a year for a second instance.

The materials and devices used are seized, and Section 27(2) requires compensation for the owner's loss.

Sec. 28 covers unauthorised imports under Sec. 26, and Section 29 is the residual penalty for any other breach.

We have not printed the figures. Amounts have been amended before and should be confirmed against the current text.

How do the routes compare?

RouteProvisionWhat it can doTiming to watch
Police complaintUnder Sec. 32.Prevent sale, search, seize copies and machinery.Act before the stock disperses.
Customs holdUnder Sec. 34.Stop an import for ten working days at a time.Twenty working days is the absolute ceiling.
District Court caseUnder Sec. 35.Punishment, compensation, and a stop order under Sec. 36.Three months from your knowledge of it.
Appeal on a Registrar decisionUnder Sec. 31.Challenge an order or decision of the Registrar.Thirty-five days from the decision.
Copyright and industrial property are different systemsTwo cards side by side. The copyright card shows the Copyright Act 2002, the Registrar under Section 30, protection arising on creation with no registration needed, a term of life plus fifty years, and the District Court under Section 35. The industrial property card shows the Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, the Department of Industry, rights arising only on registration, publication and an objection window, a renewal term, and a registration certificate.Two systems, two offices, two statutesSending a claim to the wrong one costs weeksCopyrightStatute: Copyright Act 2002.Office: the Registrar, Sec. 30.Arises: on creation.Registration: optional, Sec. 5.Term: life plus fifty years.Forum: District Court, Sec. 35.Limit: three months, Sec. 38.No certificate is needed.Industrial propertyStatute: Patent, Design andTrade Mark Act.Office: Department of Industry.Arises: on registration.Published, then an objectionwindow runs.Term: renewable in fixed terms.Proof: a registration certificate.Nothing here applies to a novel.
A brand dispute and a copying dispute start in different buildings.

Why is the appeal provision worth a second look?

Sec. 31 sends an appeal against a Registrar order or decision to the "Appellate Court" of the area, within thirty-five days.

That tier no longer exists. The court structure was reorganised after the 2015 Constitution and the Appellate Courts were replaced by High Courts.

The printed text has not caught up. Where the appeal goes today is a question for an advocate, and the thirty-five-day clock runs while you find out.

What should you do in the first week?

  1. Fix the date you found out. Sec. 38 counts from knowledge, so record how and when you learned of it.
  2. Prove the work is yours. Source files, drafts, the contract and the payment record.
  3. Check Sec. 6 carefully before you claim anything. If someone paid for the work, the economic right may not sit where you assume it does.
  4. Capture the use unaltered. Save the page addresses, the dates, the seller names and the copies themselves.
  5. Test it against the closed list. Read Sec. 16 to Sec. 23 and see what the other side can claim.
  6. Take advice on the route. A police complaint, a customs application and a court case all have different thresholds.

How does this differ from trademark and design rights?

Almost entirely: trademarks, patents and designs are registered rights run by the Department of Industry under a separate statute.

A trademark is filed in one NICE classification class, published in the Industrial Property Bulletin, and exposed to a 90-day opposition window. Nepal is first-to-file for those rights.

A registered mark has a renewal term and a registration certificate. Copyright has none of that machinery, because it needs none.

If your question is about a brand name, start with our trademark registration service and our guide to copyright versus trademark in Nepal.

A worked example

This is an illustration, not a real case. A Kathmandu studio photographs a restaurant's dishes under a brief covering menu use only.

Years later a delivery platform lifts the images for paid advertising and crops the credit out. Two claims arise from one act.

The economic claim depends on who paid: under Sec. 6(2)(c) the paying party may hold that right, so the restaurant may be the claimant rather than the studio.

The moral claim is the photographer's regardless, under Sec. 8. And Sec. 14(5) puts these photographs on the twenty-five-year clock. Our note on how long copyright lasts covers the other terms.

The evidence pack, before you write to anyoneA checklist of six items. The date you learned of the infringement, because Section 38 counts from knowledge. The work itself with its source files and drafts. The ownership chain, meaning the contract, brief and payment record that Section 6 turns on. The unaltered capture of the use. The licence or permission if any exists. And a read of the permitted uses in Sections 16 to 23 to see what the other side will say.Assemble this before you send anythingA notice sent without it warns the other side and proves nothingThe date you found out. Sec. 38 counts three months from knowledge.The work itself: source files, drafts and the date it was made.The ownership chain: brief, contract, invoice. Sec. 6 turns on this.The capture of the use, saved unedited, with addresses and dates.Any licence you granted, and exactly what it did and did not cover.A read of Sec. 16 to Sec. 23, so their best answer is not a surprise.
The last two are the ones owners skip, and the ones the other side raises first.

Common mistakes

  • Arguing "fair use" as a general defence when Sec. 17 is a citation rule.
  • Assuming that credit equals consent, when attribution only satisfies a condition inside a permitted use and never creates one.
  • Letting the Sec. 38 three months run while negotiating informally.
  • Claiming as the author when Sec. 6(2) put the right with whoever paid.
  • Applying the fifty-year term to photographs and applied art, which Sec. 14(5) halves.
  • Filing at the Department of Industry, which does not handle copyright at all.
  • Editing the downloaded evidence before saving it.

Where does IP Sewa fit?

Only at the edges, because we are a trademark practice: clearance searching, filing, renewal and opposition work.

We do not register copyright and do not run copyright litigation. If your problem is a copied brand rather than a copied work, trademark infringement is our ground.

Where a dispute touches both — a logo that is an artistic work and a registered mark — our opposition and enforcement service covers the trademark half.

What can you check yourself right now?

If a competitor is using something close to your brand name, look it up. Our trademark database search covers marks published in the Department's bulletins.

The conflict checker answers a different question from copyright, but often the real one.

For the statute, the Nepal Law Commission publishes Nepali legislation and WIPO carries an English text in WIPO Lex. Our IP FAQs cover the shorter questions.

In short

Copyright in Nepal arises on creation, runs for the author's life plus fifty years in the ordinary case, and is enforced through the Registrar, the police, customs and the District Court.

The defences are a closed list in Sec. 16 to Sec. 23, and the three-month limitation in Sec. 38 is the deadline that decides most cases before anyone reads the merits.

People also search for

If the thing being copied is your brand rather than your book, that is work we do every week — tell us what appeared and where, and we will tell you whether it is a trademark problem worth acting on.

#infringement#enforcement#copyright
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