Introduction
In the present digital era, the field of music is burgeoning its arena, not just in genres, but also in the various forms through which it is produced, disseminated and even heard. With the advent of diverse means through which music can be distributed, especially through digital mediums comprising YouTube, Spotify and other streaming platforms, the need for stricter measures facilitating the protection of original music arises.
Myanmar, a country rich in both - traditional folklore and modern pop, has over long decades, grappled with one such issue. Often referred to as outdated, the Burma Copyright Act, 1914 failed to address the issues persisting within the Burmese music industry, especially pertaining to music licensing, ‘copy thachin’ and informal distribution.
Myanmar’s Copyright Law of 2019, enforced in 2023 aims towards a comprehensive reform plan, recognising the moral and economic rights of creators including both musicians and performers. Additionally, the Act also provides recognition to digital mediums along with the creation of Collective Management Organizations (hereinafter referred to as “CMOs”), thus, broadening the horizons of Copyright Laws within Myanmar while closely aligning it with existing international standards.
This piece aims to explore the evolution of Copyrights law in Myanmar, and further seeks to analyse the current Copyrights framework in the context of local music licensing wile navigating through the potential challenges and offering prudent solutions.
The Burma Copyright Act, 1914 – An archaic model of protection against copyright infringement
Adopted from the British Copyright Act of 1911, the Burma Copyright Act, 1914 (hereinafter referred to as the “1914 legislation”) continued to form the core copyright legislation of Myanmar for decades. Despite being grounded in deep history, the act proved to be grossly inadequate in providing protection to the modern-day creators, especially those in the field of music writing.
As defined in Section 5 of the 1914 legislation, “musical work” refers to “any combination of melody and harmony, or either of them which has been reduced to writing.” This interpretation essentially implies that a major portion of the modern music industry, particularly involving works created digitally, would be left out of the legislation’s ambit, leaving this section of the industry extremely vulnerable to piracy and other copyright related issues.
In addition to this, the concerned section placed a territorial and nationality-based limitation by offering the protection only to those who were residents of the Union of Burma at the time of the making; or providing copyright access to the works first published in the country. This implies that any work which was published outside of Myanmar was left unprotected, even if the creator was Burmese by origin. Similarly, Burmese artists whose music was distributed globally might not be able to seek protection under this section, especially in the current digital era.
Moreover, Chapter III of the 1914 legislation, while dealing with penalties specifically in Sections 7,8 and 9, levied a penalty ranging from Rs. 20 to only Rs. 500 for infringing copies of a copyrighted work, which could extend upto maximum of Rs. 1000 in case of a subsequent infringement. The prescribed amount for penalty in the concerned legislation is evidently lenient, which consequently would not have had a deterring effect as intended.
Furthermore, the 1914 legislation did not offer any specific infrastructure for the existence of music licensing, making the task of royalty collection unfeasible. As a result, majority of the local artists have been rendered financially vulnerable in the past, despite the widespread circulation of their work. As expressed by Burmese hip-hop artist Thxa Soe, media piracy paired with corruption had drained over USD 1 billion annually from Myanmar’s struggling film and music industry. With fake CDs and DVD copies flooding Myanmar’s streets, the original album sales had been severely undercut, slowly killing Myanmar’s creative industry. In addition to this, the entertainment industry of Myanmar also suffered a loss of over 190 million kyats (USD 216,400) in unpaid royalties from local TV and FM radio stations that were regularly broadcasting music without securing proper licenses.
This demonstrated a sheer lack of adequate Copyright laws within the country, resulting in heavy economic losses to the nation as a whole.
‘Copy Thachin’ under the 1914 Legislation: A Symptom of Legal Failure
The enfeebled formation and implementation of the initial copyright laws in Myanmar paved way for what came to be known as ‘Copy Thachin’ – a term which is used to define global hit songs re-imagined by the local artists of Myanmar, mostly in Burmese language. Myanmar has had a long history of Copy Thachin, with ‘Playboy Than Naing’s Shwe Thachin Myar (“Golden Song”) being one of the first albums of this genre, featuring songs copied from ‘The Doors’ and ‘The Beetles’ along with a Burmese version of a famous Indonesian song Rindu (Longing). Since then, the numbers have only gone up, with over 3000 copied songs being normalised as ‘local music’ amongst the Burmese audience.
However, such acceptance on a widespread level is not a reflection of the music’s legal validity, rather, it is a symptom of systematic legal failure. Lacking in provisions pertaining to adaptation rights, derivative works or enforcement measures, the framework makes it even more difficult for international artists to assert claim over Myanmar’s beloved ‘Copy Thachin’, which kept on thriving as Myanmar’s ‘local music’ due to the 1914 legislation being archaic and weak.
Myanmar’s Copyright Law of 2019: Balancing Culture with Compliance
Enforced in 2023, Myanmar’s Copyright Act of 2019 aims at strengthening legal protection for original works, both digital and traditional. The 2019 legislation facilitates:
- Economic Rights- Sections 18 & 19 of the legislation provide a range of exclusive economic rights to musicians and performers in Myanmar. Certain economic rights include the right to authorise or carry out reproduction, translation, distribution and rental of the original or copy of the concerned works. Additionally, Chapter XIII also offers the author/ owner of the copyrighted works to transfer their economic rights under the enacted legislation.
- Moral Rights- Section 20 of the 2019 Copyright law offers exclusive moral rights to authors who are no longer the owner of the rights over their work under Section 18. These include, the right to claim authorship, the right to use pseudonym and the right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification. Moreover, the 2019 legislation also offers posthumous moral rights to an author by allowing their inheritor to exercise any exclusive moral rights in section 20.
- Penalties- Chapter XXIII of the legislation, comprising Sections 82-85 further strengthens the credibility of the overall act by levying robust penalties. These include: Upto 3 years imprisonment and a minimum fine of 1 million kyats in case of piracy, commercial infringement, illegal reproduction or import; Repeated offenders may look at imprisonments ranging from 3-10 years and fine of upto 10 million kyats. Further, Fraudulent registration of copyrights shall also attract imprisonment of upto 1-year jail or fine of upto 2 million kyat.
- Key Expansions- Myanmar’s Copyright Act of 2019 has facilitated two key expansions:
- Digital Protection: Unlike the old legislation, the new legislation does not restrict the copyrighted works only to a particular medium, thus allowing for expansion into other arenas, such as modern genres including EDM or hip hop.
- Collective Management Organisations (CMOs): The new legislation also calls for the establishment of Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) under Chapter XIX (Sections 60-62) of the act, entrusted with the task of licensing, collecting royalties and representing artist’s interest.
Conclusion
The 2019 Copyright Act has marked a significant turning point in Myanmar’s creative industry by addressing the elephant in the room, i.e. issues pertaining to copyright and licensing, particularly, in the world of film and music. By offering exclusive economic and moral rights, the legislation has provided a sense of security to the artists as well as their creation. Additionally, the levying of heavy penalties and potential imprisonment shall further lead to a stricter implementation of the extended rights while the establishment of CMOs shall facilitate financial security within the industry, where the local creators are paid long-overdue royalties. The non-biased approach of the new legislation also provides clarity to the legal status of “Copy thachin”, where international artists can potentially claim their original works, which had earlier been amalgamated into the Burmese culture in an unauthorised manner. Furthermore, the act aligns Myanmar with international legislations such as that of WIPO and TRIPS Agreement, enhancing its credibility as a transformative IP regime.
However, the success of this legislation lies in its implementation and awareness. The Government should actively facilitate the formation and operations of CMOs while ensuring practical enforcement of the set mechanisms and levying of prescribed penalties. Further, Local musicians, who have been long-devoid of a just and fair system, need to be educated and sensitised regarding their rights as authors/ owners. For the law to realise its full potential, sustained enforcement and creative community participation is required in order to protect the rights of local and international artists.
Primary Sources
- The Burma Copyright Act 1914. < http://www.asianlii.org/mm/legis/code/bca1914183/ >
- The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law 2019. < https://www.myanmartradeportal.gov.mm/uploads/ecommerce/2022/11/15-2019%20Copyright%20Law%20English%20Version.pdf >
Secondary Sources
- Victoria Heather, ‘Artists struggle to survive as piracy flourishes’ (DVB, 08 May 2012) < https://english.dvb.no/21914/ > accessed 06 July 2025.
- Eleven Media, ‘Representatives of Myanmar's entertainment industry have urged the government to take necessary steps in stopping piracy, which was causing millions of dollars in losses’ (The Nation, 11 October 2012) < https://www.nationthailand.com/international/30192176 > accessed 06 July 2025.
- Lu Min Lwin, ‘Alternate World of Copy Songs’ (kontinentalist, 13 October 2023) < https://kontinentalist.com/stories/myanmar-copy-songs > accessed 06 July 2025.