Civil Code, Law No. 43 of 1976

(1) In the absence of a provision in the Copyright Law, secondary liability is dealt with general tort law principles of joint liability under the Jordanian civil legal system.

(2) The Jordanian Civil Code is the primary source of law that should be consulted in cases as there is no specific provision in the Copyright Law in Jordan.

(3) Article 256 of the Jordanian Civil Code provides that "every injurious act shall render the person who commits it liable for damages even if he is a non-discerning person." Three elements must be present for tort liability to arise under the Jordanian Civil Code: (i) a fault or error (which may be either an act or a failure to act); (ii) damage to another; and (iii) a causal connection between the fault and damage.

(4) “Vicarious liability” is not strictly defined in the Jordanian Civil Code as in the case of French law. (i) The major provisions concerning liability for another person’s act are to be found in Article 288 of the Jordanian Civil Code, which provides that: "1. No person shall be liable for the act of another and yet the court may on the application of the injured person and if it finds justifiable hold liable for the awarded damages. A. Any person who is under a legal or a contractual obligation to supervise a person in need of supervision due to his minority or his mental or physical condition, unless he proves that he has fulfilled his duty of supervision or that damage was to be inflicted even though he fulfilled his duty of supervision or that the damage was to be inflicted even though he fulfilled his duty of exercising the necessary care. B. Any person who had actual power to supervise and direct the person who had inflicted the damage even though he himself had no free choice if the injurious act was committed by the supervised person while or because of performing the duties of his position." (ii) Article 288 of the Jordanian Civil Code is influenced by Islamic jurisprudence. It states a general rule on liability and then provides limitations to it. The judge has limited powers to determine those limitations, subject to the provisions of the law. It is submitted that it would be difficult to apply Article 288(B) to online service providers, as OSPs might not have any authority, supervision or direction over the person who is infringing copyright works online, especially with the use of the second generation of P2P networks.