How to Register Your Software and Source Code in Panama.

If you build software — an app, a SaaS, a custom system — your code is protected by copyright in Panama from the moment you write it. Registering it with the State gives you the proof of authorship and date you need to defend, license or sell it. This guide explains how.

Note: general information current as of the date; confirm your case with a lawyer.

Software is a protected "work"

Law 64 of 2012 protects computer programs as works, analogously to literary works. Protection covers the program's source code, object code and documentation. Importantly, it protects the expression (your written code), not the idea or the abstract algorithm itself. Two programs that solve the same problem with their own code are both protectable.

What you deposit and with whom

Registration is done before the National Copyright Directorate (DNDA) of the Ministry of Culture (MiCultura), and the process is 100% online:

• Complete and sign the work registration form.
• Attach a copy of the owner's ID (national ID or passport).
• Deposit a sample of the source code and documentation (usually representative excerpts, not necessarily the entire code).
• Submit it by email to the DNDA's official works-registration address.

A natural person can do it without a lawyer; it is worth delegating when the software belongs to a company, involves several developers, is a work made for hire, or there are investors or clients abroad, because poorly structured ownership is a costly problem later.

The key point for companies: who owns the code?

This is the most expensive mistake. If the software was written by an employee, a freelancer or an agency, ownership of the economic rights must be clear by contract (employment, work for hire or express assignment). Registering the software under the correct owner — and having signed assignments — is what truly protects your asset when you raise capital or sell the company.

How long software protection lasts

Unlike the general rule (author's life + 70 years), software and collective works are protected for 70 years from first publication. The natural author's moral rights (to be recognized as creator) subsist separately.

How much it costs

The State's official fees are very low — on the order of B/. 5 to B/. 10 plus a few stamps, under B/. 20 in total. What you hire a lawyer for are the handling fees: preparing the deposit, structuring ownership, and drafting assignments and licenses. For a tech company, that support is worth far more than the fee.

Related: copyright registration in Panama.

Legal basis: Law 64 of October 10, 2012, on Copyright and Related Rights. Informational content, not legal advice.