Copyright and related rights protection is obtained automatically without any need for registration or other formalities. Unlike other types of intellectual property such as trademark, patent or industrial designs where these types of intellectual property must be registered for protection, copyright and related rights are unique where, the moment you create a work, it is automatically protected. Therefore, everything that you write (or draw or paint or whatever) regardless of whether it is an email, a recording, an image, a thesis, a web page, or anything else, it is automatically copyright protected. Not only that, works created in Brunei Darussalam will have protection in other countries who are a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) or the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention. This would mean that your copyright or related rights is already protected in most countries without having to ‘register’ or go to those countries).

Brunei Darussalam is a party to both the WTO, Berne Convention, WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).