Anyone having an idea or a creation to sell has the legal right of ownership to that idea or creation and he alone can sell, and benefit from the same, or legally empower others to do so in an agreed upon manner. Putting some one else's creation or ideas to use for commercial gain, without obtaining prior permission from the original author of the work, is a crime. Thus it is to encourage genuine thinking and creative activities while ensuring credit for the real owner, author or the creator.

This guidebook is the third in the Media Manager's Companion Series. It focuses on the copyright laws in Pakistan . The guidebook has assumed crucial importance for the country's broadcasting industry because it ought to meet the international copyright standards before January 2005, as per country's commitments under World Trade Organization (WTO) regime. Failure to implement the internationally agreed copyright standards will invite automatic restrictions on Pakistan 's trade and investment and the broadcast industry is no exception.

With aim to explain the copyright laws in a non-technical language, the guidebook starts with focus on copyrights as part of the intellectual property rights issues.