New Saudi Copyright Law – Legislating for the Future

The creative industries sit at the heart of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)’s cultural and economic transformation and will play a key part in the success of Vision 2030[1] program. The Saudi Cultural Development Fund recently unveiled strategic investments of SAR 3 billion (approximately USD 933 million) to boost its creative economies, including film and TV, performing arts, fashion, digital content, experience design, and emerging technologies. As an indication of the direction of travel, the Kingdom is targeting the creation of an additional 346,000 jobs in the cultural sectors and opening 370 new cinemas in the next four years[2] . Examples of flagship Saudi cultural projects include: (i) the Red Sea Film Festival, which has swiftly become a staple of the international film industry circuit; (ii) Riyadh Art (a city-wide project installing over 1,000 public artworks) which has grown from strength to strength since its inception in 2019; and (iii) the Diriyah Biennale Foundation which has bolstered the presence of Saudi heritage and culture at events across the KSA and abroad.

Against the backdrop of such an ambitious expansion strategy in the creative sector, it is perhaps unsurprising that, in a major legislative development, the Kingdom has taken the step of modernising the country’s copyright framework through the issuance of a New Copyright Law[3], which comes into force on 1 August 2026 (180 days from its publication in the Official Gazette)[4].  

In this post we set out some of the key changes introduced by the New Copyright Law, as against the Old Copyright Law and Old Copyright Law IRs[5].

Key Changes

1. Expanded Economic Rights. There is some variation to the economic rights reserved to authors, including the licensing of the “economic exploitation” of works in general, and narrowing the scope of rental rights to specifically apply to audio recordings, audiovisual works and computer software (subject to certain limitations).[6]
2. Online Content Providers Safe Harbour. The New Copyright Law introduces a form of partial safe harbour for platforms which allow for the generation of user generated content, subject to certain conditions being met, including (without limitation) that the “online content provider” (i.e. Platform) does not modify the content (subject to certain limited exceptions, such as technical modifications for the purposes of storage and transmission), does not have knowledge of any infringement and removes any infringing content within a reasonable time after becoming aware of any infringement.[7]
3. No Express Right of Tracking. The New Copyright Law does not provide for the so-called ‘right of tracking’ previously set out under Article 6 of the Old Copyright Law IRs, which gave certain creators an ongoing right to royalties on a percentage basis, even if they waive their ownership of the original copy of a work.
4. AI Exception. The New Copyright Law sets out an exception for copying original works for the purposes of developing artificial intelligence products and algorithms[8]. However, the right is not absolute and contains certain caveats, the interpretation of which will be critical. This is particularly interesting given the recent reports of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) fining an individual for using artificial intelligence to modify and publish someone else's personal photograph without permission.[9]
5. Moral Rights. The management of moral rights (which differ in their construction to the Old Copyright Law, although they are broadly aligned) now pass to the author’s heir upon their death, rather than to SAIP. The moral rights of performance artists will be set out under the implementing regulations to the New Copyright Law.[10]
6. Exhaustion. The New Copyright Law introduces an express recognition of a concept of exhaustion upon first distribution. It will be interesting to see whether the implementing regulations provider further clarity on this, in particular the extent to which the concept of exhaustion extends to digital distribution.  
7. Works created by Employees. The New Copyright Law sets out the basic position that innovative works created by employees in the course of their employment will automatically vest with the employer (subject to certain exceptions) (i.e. equivalent to ‘work made for hire’ in other territories).
8. Disability Access. The New Copyright Law introduces a new exception which allows certain accredited entities (on a non-profit basis) to create copies of works without the author’s permission in an alternative manner or form that enables a person with a disability to access the work “smoothly and easily”, without prejudice to the moral rights in the original work.
9. Collective Rights Management. The New Copyright Law expressly provides for the ability of rightsholders to delegate the management of all or some of the financial rights to “associations, companies, or other entities”[11]. Although no further detail is provided, the recitals to the New Copyright Law indicate that SAIP and the Ministry of Culture will be drafting a set of regulations which will provide further details as to the relevant legal procedures in due course. This is a strong indication that we are likely to see one or more collective management organisations (CMOs) arise in the Kingdom in the coming years (a significant step and reflecting regional trends following the launch of the UAE’s first music-specific CMOs in 2025).
10. Registration. Whilst registration is still not mandatory for copyright to arise, registration with SAIP creates prima facie evidence of ownership of a work, rebuttable by the provision of proof to the contrary.[12]
11. Rewards System. The Chief Executive of SAIP has the power to grant financial rewards to SAIP employees who identify copyright infringements, which may prove to be a key incentive to SAIP employees to proactively identify instances of copyright infringement in the Kingdom.[13]  Given the ongoing problems of content piracy across the region, this will likely be welcomed by rights holders and broadcasters alike.
12. Higher Penalties. The maximum fine for copyright infringement has increased from SAR 250,000 (approximately USD 66,000) to SAR 1 million (approximately USD 265,000) (which can be doubled for repeat offenders). The maximum prison sentence has also increased from 6 months to one year. Rightsholders maintain the right to bring claims for compensation.[14]

What’s next?

As is common with new laws in the Kingdom, a set of implementing regulations is due to follow within the next 180 days[15], which will build upon many of the broad rights and requirements detailed under the New Copyright Law. Some of those issues which are expressly identified as subject to further development under the implementing regulations to the New Copyright Law, not captured in the list above include (non-exhaustively): 

• Provisions relating to neighbouring rights[16];
• Provisions relating to terms and conditions in software licences (including those which may contravene public policy or morality)[17];
• Further detail with respect to the authors of audiovisual works[18];
• Reversion of works to the public domain once the economic rights have expired or the author has voluntarily relinquished their rights[19]; and
• Cases where a work may be used without the author’s permission and without compensation if such a use is non-commercial, does not conflict with the normal leverage of the work, and does not cause unjustified harm to the legitimate interests of the rights holders[20].

The issues highlighted in this article are by no means exhaustive and there are nuances to the changes we have flagged which will be important for those operating in the creative and technology sectors in particular to be aware of.  These changes will likely necessitate changes to current contractual and policy frameworks and practices in the Kingdom. If you require advice on how these changes might affect your business or would like a deeper dive into the New Copyright Law, please do not hesitate to contact us.