What is the ruling on putting copyrights on books and cassette tapes?
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen – may Allah have mercy on him – was asked:
Question: What is the ruling on writing the following clause (copyright reserved) on some religious books and cassette tapes?
Copyright on a Book
The Shaykh’s response: Some people have said to me: This clause has a great benefit, which is that if the copyright is reserved for the author or the printer [of the book], it will protect the book from tampering. Because if the book remains open to anyone who wants to print it, [the reality is] the people at the present time have a weak trust, so they may print the book in a distorted or altered way, and this will cause harm to the author and to the people as well. Harm is caused to the author because the error is attributed to him, and the people may be [harmed as well] because they may understand something incorrect [while believing it is] from the author.
Based on this, if what is meant by this clause is to preserve the book and its safety from distortion, then this clause is legitimate and there is nothing wrong with it because what is intended by it is to preserve the book. However, if what is intended by this is to preserve the sharing in profit behind the book, then this is something that is not appropriate because the more knowledge is spread and disseminated, the more beneficial it is to the author and the printer firstly, then the Muslims in general.
Copyright on Cassette Tapes
As for the cassette tapes, we have spoken with some people who keep the cassette tapes and say that the copyright or transmission rights are reserved for the recordings. And they say: We are doing this because we have spent a great amount of tools and equipment, workers, and writers [in producing them], and if they are not protected, anyone from the other recording [companies] can take the recording, copy it hundreds of thousands of copies, and the loss will remain upon us. If this reasoning is correct, then I say: The recording [companies] should retain the rights of reproduction for themselves until they earn back what they spent on these cassette tapes, and if they earn back what they spent, they should allow the people to copy it.
For example, if it is estimated that ten thousand was spent on these cassette tapes, then we say: When ten thousand is earned from them, then allow the people to copy them; because after [the company] earns back what they spent, there is no loss for them. At that time, they should not monopolize knowledge and prevent the people from benefiting from them.
Rather, we say: If they permit people to do this and spread the cassette tapes on their end, then they will have the reward according to what the people benefit from these cassette tapes.
Giving a Copy of a Tape You Bought
There remains another question that arises from this: Is it permissible for someone who buys these cassette tapes on which the copying or transmission rights are reserved; is it permissible for them to give someone to copy the cassette tape that they bought, or is it not permissible?
The answer is that there is a detailed explanation for this: If copying [the tapes] is for the purpose of trade, then it is not permissible; and based on this, if someone asks me to copy the tapes or other recordings, then I should not give them to him. But if the one who asks me is a friend of mine who wants to benefit from them and listen to them, then there is no problem with this.
[Lessons and Fatwas in the Sacred Mosque: General Miscellaneous Fatwas]
References
Lessons and Fatwas in the Sacred Mosque: General Miscellaneous Fatwas, by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen. The fatwa on writing “copyright reserved” on religious books and cassette tapes, as published at darpdfs.org: https://darpdfs.org/copyrights/. The book is not in this site’s library; the published text at this link is the source this page is reproduced from and was checked against.
This page presents the fatwa of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen named in the References, reproduced from its publication at darpdfs.org and checked against that published text, word for word, on 2026-10-26. The book the fatwa is taken from is not in this site’s library, so this page rests on the published text at the source link, with attribution, rather than on a book held here. The subheadings are this page’s own, added to follow the fatwa’s structure; everything under them is the Shaykh’s answer as published. In the line introducing the question, the name of Allah is printed “Allah”, following the site’s house style; the published text prints the long form.
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