THE UN World Intellectual Property Organisation gives two main reasons for the protection of intellectual property:

1. To give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creations and the rights of the public in access to those creations; and
2. To promote, as a deliberate act of Government policy, creativity and the dissemination and application of its results and to encourage fair trading which could contribute to economic and social development.

Under the Copyright Act 1987 Malaysia, films are under copyright protection together with other literary and artistic works. The Act also explains when a copyright work is considered infringed.

“The copyright in a work is infringed when a person who, not being the owner of the copyright, and without license from the owner, does or authorises any of the following acts:

1. Reproduces in any material form, performs, shows or plays or distributes to the public, communicates by cable or broadcast of the whole work or a substantial part thereof either in its original or derivative form;
2. Imports any article into Malaysia for the purpose of trade or financial gains;
3. Makes, lets for hire or by way of trade, exposes or offers for sale or hire any infringing copy;
4. Sells, lets for hire or by way of trade, exposes or offers for sale or hire any infringing copy;
5. Distributes infringing copies;
6. Possesses, otherwise than for his private and domestic use, any infringing copy;
7. By way of trade, exhibits in public any infringing copy;
8. Imports into Malaysia, otherwise that for his private and domestic use, any copy which if it were made in Malaysia would be an infringing copy;
9. Makes or has in the possession any contrivance used or intended to be sued for the purposes of making infringing copies; or
10. Causes the work to be performed in public.”