(I) Subject to the provisions of this section and to the other provisions of this Ordinance, copyright shall subsist throughout Pakistan in the following classes of works that is to say:-
(a) original, literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works;
(b) cinematographic works; and
(c) records.
(2) Copyright shall not subsist in any work specified in subsection (1), other than a work to which the provisions of section 53 or section 54 apply, unless:-
(i) in the case of a published work, the work is first published in Pakistan, or where the work is first published outside Pakistan, the author is at the date of such publication, or in a case where the author was dead at that date, was at the time of his death, a citizen of Pakistan or domiciled in Pakistan:
(ii) in the case of an unpublished work other than an architectural work of art, the author is at the date of the making of the work a citizen of Pakistan or domiciled in Pakistan; and
(iii) in the case of an architectural work of art, the work is located in Pakistan.
(3) Copyright shall not subsist:-
(a) in any cinematographic work, if a substantial part of the work is an infringement of the copyright in any other work;
(b) in any record made in respect of a literary, dramatic or musical work, if, in making the record, copyright in such work has been infringed.
(4) The copyright or the lack of copyright in a cinematographic work or a record shall not affect the separate copyright in any work in respect of which or a substantial part of which, the work, or as the case may be, the record is made.
(5) In the case of an architectural work of art, copyright shall subsist only in the artistic character and design and shall not extend to the process or methods of construction.

Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein:
Provided that:-
(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or artistic work made by the author in the course of his employment by the proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship, for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, the said proprietor shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright in the work in so far as the copyright relates to the publication of the work in any newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, or to the reproduction of the work for the purpose of its being so published, but in all other respects the author shall be the first owner of the copyright in the work;
(b) subject to the provisions of clause (a), in the case of a photograph taken, or a painting or portrait drawn, or an engraving or a cinematographic work made, for valuable consideration at the instance of any person, such person shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein;
(c) in the case of a work made in the course of the author's employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, to which clause (a) or clause (b) does not apply, the employer shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary be the first owner of the copyright therein;
(d) in the case of a Government work, Government shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein;
(e) in the case of a work to which the provisions of section 53 apply, the international organization concerned shall be the first owner of the copyright therein.

Except as otherwise hereinafter provided, copyright shall subsist in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (other than a photograph) published within the life time of the author until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies.
Explanation.---- In this section, the reference to the author shall, in the case of a work of joint authorship, be construed as a reference to the author who dies last.

(1) In the case of a cinematographic work, copyright shall subsist until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work is published.
(2) In the case of a record, copyright shall subsist until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the record is published.
(3) In the case of a photograph, copyright shall subsist until fifty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the photograph is published.