Copyright Law, 5768-2007

In this Law –

"copyright" – as defined in section 11;

"moral right" – as defined in section 46;

"fixation", in relation to sounds – the preservation of sounds by a means that enables them to be heard or copied;

"architectural work" – a building or other structure, as well as a model for a building or such structure;

"artistic work" – including a drawing, painting, work of sculpture, engraving, lithograph, map, diagram, architectural work, photographic work and work of applied art, including a typeface;

"dramatic work" – including a play, cinematographic work, dramatico-musical work, choreographic work and pantomime;

"work of joint authorship" – a work created by several authors jointly in which the contribution of each of them cannot be distinguished;

"literary work" – including a work expressed in writing, a lecture, a table, a compilation, and also a computer program;

"work of sculpture" – including a cast or model of a sculpture;

"photographic work" – including a work produced by a process analogous to photography, but excluding a photograph that forms part of a cinematographic work;

"cinematographic work" – including a television work and any work that is similar in nature to a cinematographic work or a television work;

"compilation" – a compilation of works, including an encyclopaedia or anthology, as well as a compilation of data, including a database;

"producer", in relation to a cinematographic work or a sound recording – a person who is responsible for carrying out the acts necessary for the creation of the cinematographic work or the sound recording, as the case may be;

"infringing copy" – a copy of a work in which copyright subsists, excluding a building or other structure, that is one of the following:

"publication", of a work – the issue of a reasonable number of copies of the work, having regard to its nature, to the public, with the authorisation of the copyright owner, excluding a public performance or broadcast of the work, and excluding the public display of an artistic work that is not a typeface;

"electronic communications network" – the Internet, as well as any other public communications network that the Minister has prescribed by Order, with the approval of the Economics Committee of the Knesset;

"computer program" – a computer program in any form in which it is expressed;

"sound recording" – a fixation of sounds, excluding a fixation of sounds in a cinematographic work;

"the Minister" – the Minister of Justice.

In this Law, the following provisions shall apply in relation to the place in which a work was first published:

Copyright shall not subsist in a work except in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

provided that one of the conditions set out in section 8 is fulfilled in respect of those works, or that copyright subsists in them by virtue of an Order under section 9.

Copyright in a work as referred to in section 4 shall not apply to any of the following, but copyright shall apply to the manner of their expression:

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4, no copyright shall subsist in laws, Regulations, Knesset records or judicial decisions of a court or any governmental authority exercising adjudicative authority under law.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4, no copyright shall subsist in a design as defined in the Patents and Designs Ordinance or in a design as defined in the Designs Law, 5777-2017, unless the design is not used and is not intended to be used for industrial production; the Minister may prescribe conditions upon the fulfilment of which a design shall be regarded as used for industrial production.

Where a convention has been concluded between Israel and another country on the protection of copyright, or where Israel has acceded to a convention on the matter, the Minister may prescribe, by Order, that works as referred to in section 4(a) whose protection in Israel is required by the convention shall be protected in accordance with the provisions of the Order; the protection afforded to such works shall not exceed the protection that would have been accorded to them had the conditions in section 8 been fulfilled in respect of them, unless agreed otherwise in the convention, and only to the extent so agreed.

Where the Minister finds that a particular country does not grant adequate protection to works of authors who are Israeli citizens, the Minister may, with the approval of the Government, restrict by Order the rights prescribed under this Law, in whole or in part, in relation to works of authors who are citizens of that country; where the Minister has so prescribed, the Order shall apply to works created after its entry into force.

Copyright in a work is the exclusive right to perform, in a work or in a substantial part thereof, one or more acts, as set out below, according to the type of work:

Reproduction of a work is the making of a copy of the work in any tangible form, including –

Public performance of a work is the audible rendition or presentation of the work in public, directly or by means of a device.

Broadcasting of a work is the wired or wireless transmission of sounds, images or a combination of sounds and images contained in the work to the public.

Making a work available to the public is the performing of an act in respect of a work such that members of the public are able to access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.

Making a derivative work is the making of an original work that is substantially based on another work, such as a translation or adaptation.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 11, the performance of the acts set out in sections 19 to 30 is permitted under the conditions set out in those sections and for the purposes set out therein, even without obtaining the authorisation of the copyright owner and without payment of consideration, and in relation to the acts set out in section 32 – for consideration and in accordance with the provisions of that section.

Use of a work in legal proceedings or in administrative proceedings under law, including reporting on such proceedings, is permitted to the extent justified having regard to the purpose of the use as aforesaid.

Incidental use of a work by way of its inclusion in a photographic work, a cinematographic work or a sound recording, as well as use of a work in which the work has been so included, is permitted; for this purpose, the deliberate inclusion of a musical work, including words accompanying it, or of a sound recording in which it is fixed, in another work, shall not be regarded as incidental use.

Broadcasting, or copying by way of photography, drawing, sketching or similar visual representation, of an architectural work, a work of sculpture or a work of applied art, is permitted if the work is permanently located in a public place.

Temporary copying, including copying so made in an incidental manner, of a work, is permitted if it constitutes an inseparable part of a technological process whose sole purpose is to enable the transmission of the work between parties on a communications network, by an intermediary, or to enable another lawful use of the work, provided that the said copy has no significant economic value of its own.

The making of a new artistic work that partially copies a prior work or that is a derivative work of a prior artistic work, as well as any use of such new work, is permitted to the author of the prior artistic work, even if he is not the copyright owner therein, provided that the new work does not constitute a repetition of the essence of the prior work or an imitation thereof.

Use of the following works is permitted for the purpose of rehabilitating or re-erecting a building or other structure:

"person with a disability" and "the Commissioner" – as defined in section 5 of the Equal Rights Law;

"organisation" – any of the following:

"Equal Rights Law" – Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, 5758-1998;

"adapted work" – a work in a format adapted for use by a person with a disability.

Use of a typeface in typing, word processing, typesetting, printing or printout, as well as holding a product for the purpose of such use – are permitted, even if carried out through the use of a computer program or another product that infringes the right in the typeface.

Public performance of a work is permitted in the course of the educational activity of an educational institution of a type prescribed by the Minister, by employees of the educational institution or by pupils studying therein, provided that the public performance is before an audience comprising those employees or those pupils, the relatives of the pupils or other persons directly connected with the activity of the educational institution, and them alone; however, the showing of a cinematographic work is permitted pursuant to this section only if it is carried out for teaching or examination purposes by the educational institution.

The Minister may prescribe other conditions for the application of the provisions of sections 29 and 30, generally or in relation to particular types of educational institutions, libraries or archives, having regard to the characteristics of their activity.