on Jul 26, 2022

Authors whose rights have been violated were urged to contact the police rather than the Department of Copyright and Related Rights (DCRR), as the latter lacks the power to pursue legal action.

The Khmer Writers Association raised their concerns about widespread plagiarism and the department's failure to stop copyright infringements, which led to this explanation.

The DCRR, which is part of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MCFA), wants authors to register their works, but the department ignores complaints about copyright violations, according to Proeung Pranit, director of the Khmer Writers Association, who made this statement yesterday. The fundamental cause of the increase in plagiarism, according to Pranit, is offenders' knowledge that they will never face legal repercussions or be held accountable.

The MCFA's Long Bunna Sireyvath stated that although the ministry encourages authors to register their works, the DCRR lacks the legal power to arrest or prosecute anyone who violates an author's copyright. However, the ministry can assist in determining who owns which book.

The agency has started a campaign to inform authors on the laws pertaining to publishing and copyrights, according to Sim Satta, director of DCRR.

The writer community disagrees, claiming that it is insufficient to stop copyright violations.

The majority of authors register their copyright DCRR, according to young author Mao Chanraksmey, since they are aware of their intellectual property rights and the amount of effort put that goes into creating work.