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ฉบับพิเศษ ประจำ�ปี 2564

exhaustion applies to works imported by a natural person for personal purposes” evidence
shows national exhaustion will continue to apply.
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Finally, Indonesia’s law remains ambiguous. Under the revised Copyright Law

of 2014, no specific right of importation for authors or copyright owners is mentioned.
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Nonetheless, Article 9(1)(e) explicitly states the author or owner of copyright has the
right to distribute the work or a copy of it. However, this principle is limited by Article
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11, which provides the economic rights to perform the work or the distribution of copies
as referred to in Article 9(1)(e) do not apply to the works or the copies that have been

sold or have transferred ownership. Still, the provision is not clear on whether the right
of distribution is exhausted by the first sale or transfer in Indonesia or in a foreign
country. To date, no judicial decision seems to opine on this point. Similarly, in Thailand,

under the Copyright Act there is also no specific right to import or distribute the
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copyrighted work or copy of it, even though Section 15 mentions the right of
“communication to the public,” which may include the right of distribution. Moreover,
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even though Section 31 states that “whoever knows or should have known that a work
is made by infringing the copyright of another person” and imports such works into the
country is infringing copyright under Section 31(4), this provision could be referring
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to counterfeit products as opposed to genuine imports. This position seems to be
corroborated by the new Section 32(1), which, based on the unofficial translation of
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the Act, reads “[the s]ale of an original or copy of a copyright work by a person legally
acquiring ownership of the original or the copy of such copyright work shall not be
deemed a copyright infringement.” Last, in Brunei, exclusive rights are granted to
113

106 See, Draft Myanmar Copyright Law Published in Kyemon Newspaper (The Mirror), July 9, 2015,
http://www.eifl.net/sites/default/files/resources/kyemon_mirror_9july2015_key_points.pdf (accessed Dec. 12, 2017).
107 Law of the Republic of Indonesia (No. 28 of Sep. 16, 2014) (Indonesia).
108 Id. at art. 9(1)(e).
109 Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994) (Thailand).
110 Id. at § 15.
111 Id, at § 31.
112 Copyright Act (No. 2) B. E. 2558 (2015) (Thailand).
113 See the unofficial translation of the amendments to the Copyright Act of 1994 in Thailand, available
at http://web.krisdika.go.th/data/outsitedata/outsite21/file/COPYRIGHTACT_(NO.2),_B.E._2558_(2015).pdf

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