Copyright Law in Israel: A Complete Guide for Foreign Businesses and Content Creators

If your company creates software, publishes content, produces films, or licenses technology, you almost certainly own Israeli copyright, whether you've thought about it or not. Israel's Copyright Act 5768-2007 (*Chok Zchuyot Yotsrim*, חוק זכות יוצרים) extended automatic protection to all original works created or first published by nationals or residents of Berne Convention countries. Since Israel is a full Berne member, a US publisher, a UK software company, or a French film studio all receive Israeli copyright protection from the moment their work is created, without filing any application.

That automatic protection sounds convenient, but it comes with limits that many foreign businesses miss. Israeli fair dealing is narrower than US fair use. Who owns work created by employees is decided differently in Israel than in the US or UK. Copyright assignments must be in writing to be valid. And if an Israeli competitor copies your materials, the enforcement process has Israeli-specific features that affect your strategy: which court hears the case, what damages are available, how long you have to file. What follows covers Israeli copyright protection from the basics through to practical enforcement.

1. Israel's Copyright Framework

Israel's current copyright statute, the Copyright Act 5768-2007, came into force on 25 May 2008 and replaced the British Mandatory Copyright Ordinance of 1924 that had been in force since the period of the British Mandate. The 2007 Act brought Israeli law into alignment with the TRIPS Agreement (which Israel adopted as a WTO member) and with modern international standards, including the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

The Act is administered through the Israeli Patent Office (ILPO), which sits within the Ministry of Justice and is formally called the *Rashut HaPatentim, HaMadgamot VeHasiman HaMishari* (רשות הפטנטים, המדגמים והסימן המסחרי). Despite the name "Patent Office," ILPO's copyright division handles policy, registers voluntary copyright notices, and maintains records, though registration creates no legal entitlement beyond what the Act already grants automatically.

Israel is a signatory to:

• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works — accession 1950; nationals of all 181 member countries receive automatic Israeli copyright protection.
• TRIPS Agreement — as a WTO member, Israel must provide copyright protection meeting minimum standards, including a 50-year minimum term for most works (Israel goes further with a 70-year term).
• WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) — ratified 1999; covers digital works and anti-circumvention obligations.
• Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) — provides a backstop for works that are not covered by Berne.

2. What Works Are Protected Under Israeli Copyright Law

Section 4 of the Copyright Act 5768-2007 lists the categories of works that qualify for copyright protection. The list is intentionally broad and covers:

• Literary works — books, articles, essays, letters, databases with creative selection or arrangement, and computer programs (Section 4(a)(1)). Israel follows the Berne approach of treating software as a literary work.
• Artistic works — paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, architectural works, works of artistic craftsmanship, and maps.
• Dramatic works — plays, screenplays, choreography, and works of mime.
• Musical works — compositions with or without lyrics, but not the sound recording itself (which is a separate right).
• Sound recordings — the fixation of sounds on any medium; protected independently from the musical composition (Section 4(a)(5)).
• Films — defined in Section 1 as any sequence of images capable of showing movement, including video content. The 2007 Act gives producers and directors overlapping rights.
• Broadcasts — radio and television broadcasts transmitted by any means (Section 4(a)(7)).
• Typographical arrangements of published editions — the layout of a printed work is separately protected for 25 years (Section 37).

The core requirement is originality: the work must be independently created and reflect at least a minimum level of creativity. Pure factual compilations, verbatim transcriptions, and works entirely determined by function do not qualify. Israeli courts have adopted a standard close to the American *Feist* originality threshold. The "sweat of the brow" doctrine, which grants copyright simply for the effort of compilation regardless of creativity, does not apply in Israel.

What is not protected:

• Ideas, concepts, procedures, processes, methods of operation — only the expression is protected, not the underlying idea (Section 5, the idea-expression dichotomy).
• Official government texts — statutes, court decisions, and other official state documents are explicitly excluded from copyright (Section 6). Importantly, this includes Israeli court judgments and Knesset legislation.
• News of the day — bare factual reporting of current events, though longer news articles with original expression do qualify.
• Works in which the copyright term has expired (public domain).

3. Copyright Duration and Ownership in Israel

The duration of copyright under the Copyright Act 5768-2007 depends on the type of work and who created it:

• Standard term (literary, artistic, dramatic, musical): Life of the author plus 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author died (Section 38).
• Joint authorship: 70 years from the death of the last surviving co-author.
• Anonymous or pseudonymous works: 70 years from the year of creation, or if published within 70 years of creation, 70 years from first publication (Section 39).
• Films: 70 years from the year the film was made (Section 40).
• Sound recordings: 50 years from the year the recording was first published, or 50 years from creation if not published (Section 41).
• Broadcasts: 25 years from the year of first transmission (Section 42).
• Typographical arrangements: 25 years from first publication (Section 37).

First ownership vests in the author by default (Section 33). However, three important exceptions shift ownership to someone other than the individual creator:

1. Work created by an employee in the course of employment: The employer owns copyright from creation (Section 34). This is a default rule that a written agreement can modify by giving the employee ownership or a share of rights. If you hire an Israeli programmer, graphic designer, or writer as an employee, your company automatically owns their work output.
2. Commissioned works: Unlike the US work-for-hire doctrine, Israeli law does not automatically transfer copyright to the commissioner of a work. A freelance designer, photographer, or developer who creates work on your commission retains copyright unless the contract expressly assigns it in writing (Section 34(b)). This surprises many foreign businesses that assume paying for work means owning it.
3. Films: The film's producer holds copyright in the film as a whole (Section 35), while directors, screenwriters, and composers each retain copyright in their separate contributions (the script, the score, etc.).

Moral rights are protected separately under Section 46. Israeli law recognizes two: the right of attribution (to be identified as the author) and the right of integrity (to object to derogatory treatment of the work). Moral rights cannot be assigned; they remain with the creator. The creator can, however, waive them in writing.

4. Fair Dealing in Israel: Narrower than US Fair Use

The biggest practical gap between Israeli and American copyright law is the scope of permitted use without the copyright owner's permission. The United States has a broad "fair use" defense that courts apply flexibly to transformative and commentary uses. Israel's concept is narrower: fair dealing, set out in Section 19 of the Copyright Act 5768-2007.

Israeli fair dealing permits unauthorized use of a copyrighted work only for the following specific purposes:

• Private study or research — copying for personal, non-commercial academic research. This does not extend to mass copying or institutional use.
• Criticism or review — quoting from a work in order to critique it, provided the source is acknowledged. The amount quoted must be proportionate to the critical purpose.
• News reporting — reproducing extracts of a work in the course of reporting current events. Photographs and artistic works are specifically excluded from this exception.
• Teaching — use in face-to-face classroom instruction (Section 20), with significant limitations on quantity and commercial distribution.

When a court evaluates whether a use qualifies as fair dealing, Section 19(b) requires consideration of four factors, which parallel the US four-factor test but are applied differently:

1. The purpose and character of the use — commercial use weighs heavily against fair dealing in Israel, more so than in recent US jurisprudence on transformative works.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work — factual works receive less protection than creative ones.
3. The quantity and substantiality of the portion used relative to the whole — taking the "heart" of a work, even a small part, tends to defeat fair dealing.
4. The effect on the market for the original — potential substitution for the original is decisive.

Israeli courts have consistently held the fair dealing defense to be narrower than US fair use. The transformative use doctrine that US courts apply to parody, satire, and commentary has limited recognition in Israel. A US company whose Israeli subsidiary copies your marketing materials for internal "analysis" cannot reliably claim fair dealing if that copying substitutes for a licence.

Additional permitted uses outside Section 19 include:

• Interoperability exception (Section 24(1)) — reverse engineering software to achieve interoperability with another program, where necessary and proportionate.
• Backup copies (Section 24(2)) — a lawful user may make one backup copy of a computer program.
• Ephemeral copies (Section 26) — temporary copies made during transmission or in RAM in the course of normal electronic processing are not infringement.
• Works in public places (Section 22) — permanently installed artistic works in public spaces may be photographed and the photographs reproduced.

5. Copyright Infringement and Enforcement in Israel

Israeli copyright enforcement involves both civil and criminal tracks. Foreign businesses typically pursue the civil route. Before filing suit, it is standard practice to send a formal demand letter (Hebrew: מכתב דרישה), which serves as notice of the infringement and opens the door to settlement. Many Israeli copyright disputes resolve at this stage.

Civil remedies under Sections 56–58 of the Copyright Act include:

• Injunctions — Israeli courts readily grant interim injunctions to stop ongoing infringement where the plaintiff demonstrates a prima facie case and risk of irreversible harm. The Tel Aviv District Court can issue an ex parte restraining order (Hebrew: צו מניעה זמני) within days in urgent cases.
• Actual damages — the copyright holder's proven financial loss, including lost licensing fees and lost profits.
• Account of profits — the infringer must disgorge profits made from the infringement, as an alternative to actual damages.
• Statutory damages — the most important remedy for foreign plaintiffs: up to NIS 100,000 per infringement (Section 56(b)), with no obligation to prove actual loss. The court may increase this to NIS 200,000 where the infringement was willful. Statutory damages are per infringed work, so a defendant who copies 10 protected works faces exposure of up to NIS 1,000,000 without any proof of loss.
• Legal costs — Israeli courts can (and often do) award attorneys' fees to a successful plaintiff in IP cases.
• Delivery up and destruction — physical infringing copies and the means of producing them can be ordered seized and destroyed.

Which court? Original jurisdiction over copyright infringement claims lies with the District Courts (*Batei Mishpat Mechozi*). The Tel Aviv District Court, which hosts a specialized panel for intellectual property matters, handles the great majority of commercial copyright cases. Where the amount claimed is below NIS 2.5 million, the Magistrates' Court (*Bet Mishpat Shalom*) also has jurisdiction, but IP specialists generally advise filing in the District Court for complex cases.

Limitation period: Under Section 89 of the Civil Wrongs Ordinance (New Version) as interpreted alongside the Limitation Law 5718-1958, civil copyright claims must be filed within three years of the date the plaintiff knew or should have known of the infringement. This period is not automatically extended for ongoing infringement — courts assess the accrual date carefully.

Criminal enforcement under Section 61 of the Copyright Act applies to willful commercial copyright infringement. Penalties include fines and imprisonment of up to five years. In practice, criminal enforcement by the Israel Police Cyber Unit or the Ministry of Economy's Enforcement and Inspection Unit is reserved for large-scale piracy operations. Foreign rights holders who wish to file a criminal complaint should do so through Israeli legal counsel.

Customs enforcement: Under the Merchandise Marks Ordinance and related regulations, Israel Customs (part of the Israel Tax Authority) can detain imported goods suspected of infringing copyright on an ex officio basis or on application by a rights holder. Rights holders who register with the Customs Authority receive advance notice of suspected infringing shipments. The application process is handled through the Israel Tax Authority's Customs and VAT Division in Jerusalem.

6. Software and Digital Works Under Israeli Copyright Law

Israel is one of the stronger jurisdictions for software copyright protection. Section 4(a)(1) of the Copyright Act explicitly lists "computer programs" as a protected literary work, covering both source code and object code. The 2007 Act also updated protection for digital content in several ways that matter to technology businesses operating in Israel.

Scope of software protection:

• Source code and object code — both are protected as literary works. Decompiling object code to retrieve source code without authorization is infringement, subject to the interoperability exception in Section 24(1).
• User interface — screen displays and graphical user interfaces may be protected as artistic works if they meet the originality threshold, though purely functional UI elements (standard buttons, menus) generally do not.
• APIs — the functional specification of an API (the calling conventions, parameter names) is less likely to receive protection as an idea or process, though the actual implementation code is protected. Israeli courts have not issued a definitive ruling equivalent to the US Oracle v. Google case.
• Databases — a database that reflects creative selection or arrangement of material qualifies as a literary work. Israel does not have a sui generis database right equivalent to the EU Database Directive; pure investment in data collection without creative selection is not protected.

Anti-circumvention (technological protection measures): Section 23 of the Copyright Act prohibits circumventing a technological measure (DRM, encryption, access control) that protects a copyrighted work. Distributing tools designed primarily for circumvention is a separate offense. The prohibition mirrors the WIPO Copyright Treaty obligations and is analogous to Section 1201 of the US DMCA, though Israel's provision does not have the same extensive safe harbors.

Online service providers: Israeli law does not have an explicit statutory safe harbor provision equivalent to the US DMCA Section 512 or the EU E-Commerce Directive. Israeli courts have developed a secondary liability doctrine through case law (*Grokster*-type analysis for contributory infringement), but the framework is less predictable than in jurisdictions with explicit legislative safe harbors. Platforms operating in Israel that host user-generated content should implement notice-and-takedown procedures as a risk-mitigation measure even in the absence of a statutory mandate.

AI-generated works: The Copyright Act 5768-2007 does not address works generated by artificial intelligence. The current Israeli position, consistent with most Berne Convention jurisdictions, is that copyright requires a human author. A work generated entirely by an AI tool without meaningful human creative input would not qualify for copyright protection in Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Justice Technology Law Division has acknowledged the gap but has not proposed amending legislation as of the date of this guide.

7. Licensing and Assignment of Copyright in Israel

Transferring or licensing copyright in Israel involves rules that differ in key respects from US and UK practice. Getting these formalities wrong can render a purported assignment or exclusive licence unenforceable.

Assignment of copyright (full transfer):

• An assignment of copyright must be in writing and signed by the assignor (Section 37(b) of the Copyright Act). An oral agreement to transfer copyright is not effective.
• An assignment may be partial — limited to particular rights (e.g., the right to reproduce, but not to translate), particular territories, or a particular period of time.
• Moral rights cannot be assigned. The creator's moral rights remain with them personally, though they can be waived in writing.
• An assignment does not automatically include the right to sublicense; sublicensing rights must be expressly granted.

Exclusive licences:

• An exclusive licence must also be in writing to be valid (Section 37(c)). An oral exclusive licence is unenforceable against third parties.
• An exclusive licensee has standing to bring infringement proceedings in their own name, joining the copyright owner as a party if necessary.

Non-exclusive licences:

• Non-exclusive licences may be oral, though written terms are strongly advisable for evidentiary purposes.
• A non-exclusive licensee cannot sue infringers in their own name — they need the copyright owner to bring the claim.

Key clauses for Israeli copyright agreements:

• Assignment vs. licence: Specify clearly which is intended. Israeli courts will look at the substance of the agreement if the label is ambiguous.
• Moral rights waiver: Where the work will be modified or presented without attribution, include a written waiver of the creator's moral rights under Section 46.
• Governing law and jurisdiction: Specify Israeli law and Israeli courts (or agreed arbitration) in case of disputes, to avoid conflicts of law arguments about which country's copyright rules govern the agreement.
• Termination provisions: Unlike US copyright law, Israeli law does not have a 35-year reversion right for authors. Licence termination is governed by contract terms and general contract law, so be precise about termination triggers.
• VAT treatment: A licence or assignment of copyright is subject to Israeli VAT (18% as of 2026) when supplied by an Israeli-registered business to an Israeli customer. Foreign businesses supplying copyright licences to Israeli customers may need to register for VAT in Israel; consult a tax adviser.