All Islamic Jurists agree that Islam recognizes three different types of rights, First and foremost are the rights reserved to God- These rights are purely concerned with warship and prayer.

The rights of Society are linked by some Jurists to those reserved to God, to magnify their importance, they are those rights which benefit the Islamic Community as a whole. It is not concerned with the individual's rights as much as it concerns the Public Interest of the Islamic Community.

[Mahmoud Shaltoot- Islam A concept and law p 160, 259 1959 Cairo]

We are here concerned with the third type of rights-i.e. those which deal with the individual, and it is defined as those rights which bestow a benefit or a profit to an individual.

The cornerstone that establishes these rights is the extent to which an individual can abandon or forego these rights.

There is also what is known as the mutual rights, which deals with the rights of the two individuals who are in dispute.

[Yousuf Mohamed Kassim -The rules of Media in Islamic Share'a & the Code of Saudi Arabia p35 1979 Riyadh]

Islamic Share'a interprets the quoted saying of the Prophet Mohammed that "the works of a person that do not cease even after death are three: a continuing charity, a beneficial know-how or a worthwhile son"

As being the most important route through which all other Islamic rituals such as Haj and prayer would be chandelled.

Know-how and knowledge is recognized by Islam as being of continuous benefit that outlive the author, even after death and the cessation of the property right.

Islamic Jurists are unanimous in their view about the high regards which Islam consider the position of the author, the researcher and the scientist who are grouped together under the name of A'LEM to whom several references are made in the Quoran and the Sunna.

Intellectual products are therefore recognized as being of a paramount benefit to Islam, and it was made the duty of every Muslim to learn, so much so that Prophet Mohammed equated those who seek the path of learning to those whose path is leading to paradise.

There are those Jurists who argue that what did this saying mean is limited to those who are seeking the knowledge in the religious field, but the saying of Prophet Mohammed in this regard is unequivocal. He is quoted as saying

"God will facilitate the path to Paradise for those who follow a path seeking science."

These are a clear indication that learning is not limited to one aspect alone, but include innovation, science and technology.

THE RULES OF SHARE'A

Early Islamic Jurists recognized the copyrights of the author and offered him the protection from pirates, these rules however

did not follow the same pattern, which we know today. These rules were dictated by honesty and were born by instinct. Breach of such rules were considered as a breach ethics which Islamic share'a came to correct.

Furthermore, Early Islamic Jurists emphasized the importance of scientific honesty, which lies at the very center of the protection of intellectual property.

Imam Muslim quoted Saied Alkidry as saying that Prophet Mohammed said "Let anyone who has written about me other than the quoran, let him delete it, and those who deliberately misquote me, let them take their stand in Hell.

An important aspect of scientific honesty in the early days of Islam was the great reliance placed in quoting the references and documenting the texts, hence we notice that when the Hadeeth [The quotes of Prophet Mohammed] was written (cir 8^th Century) all texts were preceded by a series of references who accepted responsibility for their quotations. It was considered very important to refer the quote to the quoting authority, without which, the quote would be ignored. In fact it was the duty of the reference to quote the name of the authority, in order to shift the burden and provide the necessary confidence in the audience.

The Islamic Jurists concern with references was not limited to divinity, but covered all other publications such as history, literature, news and interpretations.

Examinations of early books such as those written in 1050 AD by IBIN SAYEDEH [al-Mukasas] and that written in1450 AD by IBIN HAJAR AL-ASKALANI [al-Durrer al-Kamina] reveal that authors quote their references together with their sources in the body of their introduction.

Piracy of literature, and infringement of copyrights as we know it today, was raised by ABU_UBAIDA AL-KASIM some one thousand years ago, in his book "The classes of prominent poets" in which he deals with this dangerous phenomenon and alerting the readers in accepting the poetry falsely attributable to the pirates.

The history of literary criticism contains abundance of examples dealing with the infringement of copyright.

Critics branded the infringes of a literary right several derogatory names such as

It is a rule in Islamic Share'a punishment for a misdemeanor is dependent on the merit of the committed crime. Defamation was considered a sufficient punishment that put the infringes and his tribe to shame, specially when we know that publishing was not through printing a big number of copies, but rather a few hand written copies of manuscripts.

It is clear that Islamic Share'a was aware of the importance of scientific honesty which forms the basis of intellectual property in the modern Islamic States, but did not indulge in codifying the rules that govern its application. The moral approach therefore was the only approach that was followed by the Share'a, an approach designed to uphold the public interest rather than the interest of the individual.

Providing the content does not contain incitement against Islam or contradict Islamic Share'a, then an author is fully entitled to his unfettered right in his work.

If the content therefore is not within the guideline of Islam then such work will have to be destroyed. A further penalty is imposed on the author of such works, for example if the content is blasphemous.

The infamous case of Salman Rushdi and his "Satanic Verses" is an example of what an author can expect in publishing such work.

The justification which the Share'a rely on are several quotation from Prophet Mohammed and his actions, these can be summarized as follows:

Intellectual work publishing is a right in which all qualified people are equal, but those who are foremost in publishing their work first; they will be most entitled to this right.

This follows from the two Hadeeths:

"Early acquirer, establishes a better right"

"He who cultivate an arid land, it would belong to him"

Prophet Mohammed was quoted as saying" The best of a man's toil is that achieved by his hands" AIYSHA (the wife of the Prophet ) was quoted as saying " The best of what you would eat is that derived through your labour, and your sons are part of your labour".

Islamic Share'a make the analogy of labour as the work of an intellectual effort.

Absolute right is a right which is determined by Islamic Share'a. This right is equivalent to unliquidated damages, such as the right of a partner in a real estate, or the right of first refusal to purchase an adjoining plot of land. It is a right in which the consideration would not vary if the owner of such right foregoes this type of right. An example of this type is when an owner of a right agrees to relinquish his right when he suffers no damages, then he will not be entitled to compensation.

The quantifiable right is that which is primarily determined from the start. Such rights are equivalent to liquidated damages. Examples of this type are the private right of the beneficiaries of the victim of a murder. And the rights of the husband not release from wedlock his wife. In both these cases, it is possible to compensate for the damages on foregoing such right, according to quoranic verses.

It is therefore permissible to the next of kin of a murdered person to accept a sum of money in consideration of forgiving the murderer, as happened in the now famous cases of the two British nurses in Saudi Arabia.

It is also permissible for a husband to accept an agreed sum of money in return for granting her a divorce to his wife.

Most modern Arab and Islamic states found that the moral approach alone is not sufficient to deter possible infringers. They enacted legislation that is in line with most modern states in safeguarding the monetary rights of the individual and yet remain within the confine of Islam.

An example of such legislation is that of Saudi Arabia which was introduced some 8 years ago. It recognized the right of the author to exploit his property for a profit or benefit within a specified period of time.

Exploitation of such a property must be within the lawful means of exploitation, this is meant to exclude the artist currency forger from utilizing his property since Islam do not recognize the unlawful means of exploitation.

The rightful owner of the copyright is defined in the Act as the author himself or his estate. He may publish his property or by agreeing with a publisher for an agreed sum of money, defined as a percentage of profit or sale.

Writing requirement of such an agreement is mandatory. This is unlike the consensual writing requirement seen in the case of a debt. It is interesting to note that the burden of drawing up the agreement between the parties is specified to be the publishing houses or the producers of artistic property, but not the author himself or his estate.

Islamic Jurists emphasized the importance of striking a balance in intellectual property agreements; thus it is essential to specify in such a contract the amount due to the author on exploiting his property, the number of issues to be printed and the guarantees for payment.

Restricting the rights of the author to grant a second license to print or copy the publication by other publisher should also be included in the agreement, a breach of this clause results in payment of damages to the publisher.

The owner of the right alone has the legal capacity to amend the agreement, while the effect of the intervention of an unauthorized third party is to make null and void such amendment.

MULTIPLE AUTHORS

The Act identifies three related types of multiple authorship, these are:

The ownership of the copyrights is vested equally and jointly in the authors of the work. It is possible to authorize one author to conduct negotiation with publishers or others to convert or translate or modify the works, providing that such authority is made in writing.

The copyright would be vested in each author individually according to his share of contribution to the work, with the proviso that exploitation of such a right does not infringe the rights of the others. Publishing the section separately would be an example of infringing the right of the other authors, unless all others agree otherwise

Examples of this type are varied and many. They including Newspapers, Magazines, Periodicals, Literary work published by the different ministries, such as the ministries of education, economics, or other departments of the ministries

THE PERIOD OF PROTECTION

Islamic Share'a conceded a maximum period of 60 years during which a monopoly would be granted to an individual utilizing land for building or agriculture cultivation on leases.

By analogy a similar period applies to the rights of an author. Islamic Jurists considered the possibility of upsetting the equilibrium that coexists between the interest of the author and his estate after his death. They and came up with the conclusion that the maximum period of protection for a published work is the life of the author and 50 years for his beneficiaries after his demise.

A period of 25 years from the date of first publication was considered appropriate for photographic, sound, vision, applied art or publication using a pseudonym.

The rationale behind this maximum period is that published work is a relative innovation, it depends mainly on the heritage of society- besides being a right of the community, and it is therefore analogous to a general charitable work when this protection period is over.

Prior to the end of the protection period however, it would be possible to any one to utilize the work in return of a reasonable profit.

It is argued that it would be inequitable for the beneficiaries to exploit the inherited work by leaving it to their beneficiaries;

Modern Saudi Law which is based on the Share'a law do not allow a third party to exploit the work, but if the beneficiary is unable to establish his interest in the work, then the third party would be entitled to enjoy the use of the right