How to Register a Copyright in Pakistan

Copyright in Pakistan is handled by a separate office, under a separate law, from trademarks and patents. It is the Copyright Office in Karachi, working under the Copyright Ordinance, 1962.

If you write, record music, take photographs, make video or build software, this is the register that concerns you. Not the trademark registry.

We read this on the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan's site at ipo.gov.pk on 31 August 2026.

Which office, and which law

All of these sit under IPO-Pakistan, which was established by the IPO-Pakistan Act, 2012. The Copyright Office and the Trade Marks Registry are both in Karachi but they are different offices with different forms.

What IPO publishes for copyright

The copyright section of IPO's site carries a procedure for registration, fee and forms, the Copyright Ordinance, 1962 and the Copyright Rules, 1967, fee revision notifications, an e-Journal, a Copyright Board with named members, a cause list, and a set of frequently asked questions.

The cause list matters more than it sounds. It means disputes are heard, on published dates, by a Copyright Board. This is a live process, not just a filing cabinet.

IPO also publishes average process time for its services. Check that before you plan a release around a registration date.

Registering is not what creates the right

This is the point that saves people money and disappointment.

Copyright generally exists in an original work from the moment it is created. Registration does not manufacture the right. What it gives you is an official record with a date attached, which is what you produce when somebody disputes that the work is yours.

So the honest reason to register is evidence. If your work is commercially valuable, or you expect to license it, or you have already had it copied, a dated official record is worth having. If you are simply worried in the abstract, understand what you are buying before you spend.

What to do before you file

1. Gather the work itself in a final form you can submit.
2. Write down when it was created and by whom.
3. Check whether the work was made for an employer or client, since that affects who owns it.
4. Read the procedure for registration page and the fee and forms page on IPO's site.
5. Keep your own dated copies and correspondence regardless of what you file.

The ownership question in step three catches freelancers and employees regularly. Who owns work made in the course of employment, or paid for under a contract, is decided by the law and the contract rather than by who typed it. Sort that out in writing before a dispute, not after.

If your work is being copied

IPO publishes IPR enforcement guidelines for Pakistan Customs and for Police and the FIA, operates antipiracy and anti counterfeiting cells, and has a standard operating procedure for processing enforcement complaints.

Where the copying is online, that is also a cybercrime route, and our guide to reporting a cybercrime covers how to file and what evidence to preserve first. Take screenshots with visible dates and URLs before you send any takedown request, because content disappears once you complain.

If the problem is somebody using your business name rather than your creative work, that is a trademark matter instead, and our guide to registering a trademark in Pakistan sets out that route.

Freelancers and content creators

Pakistan has a very large freelance workforce, and most of it produces exactly the kind of work copyright covers: writing, design, video, code.

Two practical habits are worth more than most legal steps. Keep your original files with their creation dates intact. And put ownership in the contract, in plain words, before the work starts.

Our guides to getting paid as a freelancer in Pakistan and to PSEB registration and freelancer tax cover the money and registration side of the same work.

Common questions about copyright

Do I have to register to have copyright?

Generally no. Registration gives you an official dated record, which is evidence, rather than creating the right.

Where do I register?

The Copyright Office in Karachi, under IPO-Pakistan. The procedure and forms are published on ipo.gov.pk.

Which law applies?

The Copyright Ordinance, 1962 and the Copyright Rules, 1967, both published on IPO's site.

Is copyright the same as a trademark?

No. Different law, different office, different form. A brand name is a trademark matter.

Who owns work I made for a client?

It depends on the law and your contract. Agree it in writing before starting the work.

What does it cost?

IPO publishes fee and forms pages and revises fees by notification. Check the current figure there.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 31 August 2026. We read the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan's website at ipo.gov.pk on that date. The existence of a separate Copyright Office in Karachi under IPO-Pakistan, the Copyright Ordinance, 1962 and Copyright Rules, 1967, the published procedure for registration, fee and forms pages, fee revision notifications, the Copyright Board and its members and cause list, the e-Journal, the frequently asked questions, the published average process time, the separate regimes for trademarks, patents, registered designs and geographical indications, and the IPR enforcement guidelines for Pakistan Customs and for Police and FIA together with the antipiracy and anti counterfeiting cells and the complaint handling SOP, are all taken from that site. We did not register a work ourselves and no fee figure is quoted here, because IPO revises fees by notification. The general position that copyright exists in an original work from creation and that registration serves as evidence is a statement of ordinary copyright principle and not a reading of the Ordinance, whose text we did not review for this guide. Confirm the current procedure and fee on ipo.gov.pk. Nothing here is legal advice.