Saudi ArabiaCopyright Law (2026), computer programs and the author's exclusive rights
In force since .
A copyright: the exclusive rights rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
What it requires
- You need the author's permission to copy a work in any way or form, to translate it, and to modify, convert or adapt it into another form (Article 9(1)(a) and (b)).
- You need the author's permission to distribute a work; the distribution right is exhausted at the first distribution (Article 9(1)(c)).
- You need the author's permission to communicate a work to the public by wired or wireless transmission, including making it available so that the public can access it at any time and place (Article 9(1)(f)).
- You need the author's permission to rent a computer program for commercial purposes, unless the program itself is not the essential object of the rental (Article 9(1)(e)(3)).
- Keep any use you make under Articles 26 to 36 from conflicting with the normal exploitation of the work or unjustifiably prejudicing the legitimate interests of rights holders (Article 37(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Exploiting a right under the Law for commercial purposes without the rights holders' permission is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to one million riyals, or both (Article 47(1)).
Penalty structure
The cap is the fine in Article 47, which also allows imprisonment of up to one year or both penalties.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- SAR
- Fixed cap
- 1,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Public Prosecution, which investigates the offences in Article 47 and prosecutes them before the competent court (Article 46).
What this law does
Article 3 protects works of every kind, whatever the way they are expressed or the purpose of authorship, and lists its examples without limiting them. Article 3(11) lists computer programs and their applications among those works. Article 9(1) gives the author the exclusive right to do or authorize the acts it lists, according to the nature of the work. Those acts include copying the work in any way or form.
They also include translating the work into other languages and modifying, converting or adapting it into another form. The author also holds the right to distribute the work, and that right is exhausted at the first distribution. The author holds the right to rent a computer program for commercial purposes, and that right does not apply where the program itself is not the essential object of the rental.
The author holds the right to authorize communicating the work to the public by any means of wired or wireless transmission, including making it available so that the public can access it at any time and place. Article 47 punishes the offences it lists, which include exploiting a right under the Law for commercial purposes without the rights holders' permission, with imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to one million riyals, or both.
Article 51 lets a rights holder who suffers direct harm from an infringement sue in the competent court for seizure of the infringing works, an order to stop, and compensation including the infringer's profits. Article 61 applies the Law 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app reuses other publishers' content, distributes a software product, trains models or generates content with AI.
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