Islam & Copyright  

The council of scholars known as Majma' al-Fiqh al-Islaamee issued the following fatwaa in their fifth session in Kuwait, December 10-15, 1988: "After reading the research papers prepared by its members and experts on the subject of intellectual property rights and after hearing the discussions of the issue, the Council affirmed the following: 'Trade names, logos, trademarks, authorship, inventions and designs are the rights of their owners. These things have acquired commercial value in the modern business environment because people make money from them. The Sharee'ah recognizes such rights, so they should not be violated.' " (Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh, Wahbah Al-Zuhayli, 7:5160)