As-salamu alaykum,
One of the questions quite often asked of us, is regarding the copyright of Islamic materials.
Point 1- No Intellectual Copyright
First and foremost we wish to point out that there is no such thing as intellectual copyright in Islam i.e. a person cannot quote Quran and Sunnah or anything related to this deen and claim it for himself, as this deen belongs to Allah (swt),
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ
Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam. (Aali Imran 3:19)
We are commanded to convey this deen, the Messenger (saw) said in a hadith collected in Sahih Al Bukhari,
بَلِّغُوا عَنِّى وَلَوْ آيَةً
“Convey from me even one verse”
and Allah says,
وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلاَّ الْبَلاَغُ الْمُبِينُ
“And our duty (i.e. the Messengers) is only to convey plainly (the Message).” (Ya-Sin 36:17)
The reward we seek for conveying this deen should be sought from Allah (swt).
وَمَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْر ٍ إِنْ أَجْرِي إِلاَّ عَلَى رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
“No reward do I ask of you for it (my Message), my reward is only from the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). (Ash-Shu’ara 26:109)
Point 2 – The Right of Disposal
Secondly the confusion most people have is that one may be compensated financially for producing a CD for his effort in production etc, however once the product is brought by the buyer he has the right of disposal to do as he wishes with this CD, DVD, book etc. This includes to copy the material and distribute it freely if he wishes. The original seller cannot stipulate any conditions on the buyer once the goods has left his hands.
Point 3 – Copyright is an innovation of the Non-Muslims
If we look to our Islamic History we do not find our scholars copyrighting their works, rather they made it available for the Ummah so that they could benefit from the knowledge.
Unfortunately with the age of technology, some Muslims have started to practice that which never existed in Islam and are following the innovation (bidah) of copyright.
We advise you listen to this lecture by Sheikh Feiz Muhammad which clarifies the points mentioned above.
Click the title in the player to PLAY.
Filed under: Articles
no copyright for media filth. too bad.
Troid supported Islamic Scholars now detaining and re-educating non-violent critics of Gulf state governments
Video:
ISLAM 1984: Salafi Scholars detain re-educate thought criminals
Your argument about their being no copyright in Islam to have absolutely no basis. Here is why, while no one has exclusive rights to the quran and hadith people do have rights to their hard work. These audio programs and islamic books took a lot of effort and money to produce and publish. By distributing these materials for free once you purchase them or gain access to them you are actually undermining their ability to distribute quality islamic materials since no one will actually buy their products if they can download them for free.
I see that on your site you have a link to Shaikh al-Munajid’s site Islam QA, Lets take a look at what the Shaikh’s site says about copyright laws.
http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/52903/copyright
Copying tapes and CDs with the aim of distributing them
We copy religious tapes and give them away for free or sell them very cheaply in order to distribute them more widely, but the tapes are protected by copyright, and our aim is to spread knowledge and da’wah.
Similarly with CDs, it may be difficult and expensive to get hold of original copies. And the purpose of what we do is to spread knowledge.
Praise be to Allaah.
Copyright or the rights of authors, inventors and producers, and other financial and moral rights, belong to the owners of these works and it is not permissible to transgress against them or undermine them without the permission of their owners. That includes tapes, CDs and books.
Reference may be made concerning that to what was written by Shaykh Bakr ibn ‘Abd-Allaah Abu Zayd (may Allaah preserve him) about copyright in his book Fiqh al-Nawaazil, 2/101-187.
The Standing Committee was asked: Is it permissible for me to record (a copy of) a tape and sell it without asking permission from its author, or from the publisher if the author is no longer alive? Is it permissible to make many copies of a book and sell them? Is it permissible to make a copy of a book and not sell it, rather keep it for myself, if it is marked copyright; do I have to ask for permission or not?
They replied: There is nothing wrong with making copies of useful tapes and selling them, or making copies of books and selling them, because that is helping to spread knowledge, unless their authors have stated that this is not allowed, in which case their permission must be sought.
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 13/187
The Committee was also asked: I work in the field of computers, and since I started working I have been making copies of programs to work with them. I have been doing that without purchasing an original copy of these programs, knowing that these programs carry warnings against making copies and their copyright is protected, like the phrase “all rights reserved” which appears on some books. The author of the program may be a Muslim or a kaafir. My question is: is it permissible to make copies in this manner or not?
They replied: It is not permissible to make copies of programs whose authors have forbidden the making of copies without their permission, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Muslims are bound by their conditions.” And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever reaches a persmittible thing first has more right to it.” It does not matter whether the author of the program is a Muslim or a kaafir who is not in a state of war with Islam, because the rights of a kaafir who is not in a state of war with Islam are to be respected like the rights of a Muslim.
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 13/188.
There is also a statement from the Islamic Fiqh Council concerning intellectual property rights in which it says:
Firstly:
Trade names, trademarks, copyright and patents are all rights which belong exclusively to their owners. In modern times they have come to have a considerable financial value. These rights are recognized according to sharee’ah, and they should not be violated.
…
Thirdly:
Copyright and patents are protected by sharee’ah. Their owners have the right to buy or sell them and nobody has the right to violate these rights.
Undoubtedly the authors of these tapes and CDs have expended time, effort and money to produce them, and there is nothing in sharee’ah to indicate that they should not take the profits that result from this work. The one who transgresses against their rights is wronging them and consuming their wealth unlawfully.
If it is permissible to transgress against these rights, then these companies would stop producing these things, because it beings no returns. Their employees would have no motive to work, and undoubtedly stopping this work would result in a great deal of good being withheld from people. So it is appropriate that the scholars have stated that it is haraam to transgress against these rights.
This is the basic ruling, but in some cases it may be permissible to make copies without the author’s permission. That applies in two cases:
1 – If something is not available in the marketplace, if there is a need for it and it is charitable distribution, not for sale or for making a profit.
2 – If there is a great need for it and its authors are asking for more than its price, and they have already made enough money to cover the cost of producing this program with a reasonable profit – which is to be decided by people of experience. In that case, if it serves the interests of the Muslims, it is permissible to copy it, so as to ward off harm. But that is subject to the condition that it not be sold for personal gain.
And Allaah is the Source of strength.
You can contact the companies which produced the material and tell them of the charitable purpose behind it and ask them for permission to make copies, or give them an appropriate price.
And Allaah knows best.