Timor-Leste's Unfinished Rights Infrastructure
Timor-Leste has been using the US dollar as its official currency since 2000, which makes it unique in Southeast Asia where a streaming payout lands without a currency conversion. However, almost everything else in its rights infrastructure is unfinished.
The country joined ASEAN in October 2025 and owes full TRIPS implementation by January 1, 2027. Its copyright statute was written before either of these events, and it has no institution to register collecting societies with.
The National Parliament approved the Copyright and Related Rights Code on November 29, 2022, which gives a general term of 50 years after the creator's death for authorship rights and 50 years from the performance or first fixation for related rights. This is twenty years shorter than the life-plus-70 term in Indonesia next door.
A foreign society can collect royalties on behalf of Timorese writers, as Article 116(2) states that representation results from 'the simple fact of being a member or adherent.' However, registration with the State entity that supervises copyrights is required for this to happen.