Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Consolidated list So-Sy

Copyright rules by territory

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R Sa-Sl So-Sy T U V W X Y Z

This page gives overviews of copyright rules in different countries or territories. It is "transcluded" from individual pages giving the rules for each territory.

Text transcluded from
COM:Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Copyright rules: Solomon Islands Shortcut: COM:Solomon Islands
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Posthumous	Publish + 50 years
Government	Publish + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SLB
Treaties
Berne convention	4 July 2019
WTO member	26 July 1996
URAA restoration date‌*	26 July 1996
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Solomon Islands relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Solomon Islands must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Solomon Islands and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Solomon Islands, refer to the Copyright Act for clarification.

Governing laws

The Solomon Islands was made a British protectorate in June 1893. The country became a sovereign state on 7 July 1978 as "Solomon Islands" (without "the").

Solomon Islands became a member of the World Trade Organization on 25 July 1996, and the Berne Convention since 4 July 2019.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act 1987 (Cap 138) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Solomon Islands. WIPO holds the Revised Edition 1996 of this act on their WIPO Lex database. The act repeals and replaces the Copyright Act 1911 of the United Kingdom.^{[138/1987–1996 Preamble]}

Applicability

Under the Copyright Act 1987 (Cap 138) Revised Edition 1996,

• Copyright subsists in literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, either unpublished but made by a qualified person, or first published in Solomon Islands, or first published by a qualified person.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 3 (1)]}
• A "literary work" is any work which is written, spoken or sung and includes any written table, compilation or computer program.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 2]}
• A "dramatic work" includes a choreographic show or other dumb show if described in writing in the form in which the show is to be presented; a scenario or script for a cinematograph film; but does not include a cinematograph film as distinct from the scenario or script for a cinematograph film.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 2]}
• An "artistic work" is any painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving or photograph; any building or model for or of any building; or any other work of artistic craftsmanship.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 2]}

Durations

Under the Copyright Act 1987 (Cap 138) Revised Edition 1996,

• Copyright in general lasts 50 years after the author's death.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 3(3)]}
• If a literary, dramatic or musical work was not made public (published, performed, offered for sale or broadcast) before the author died, copyright lasts 50 years after it was made public.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 3(4-5)]}
• If the work is an engraving that was not published before the death of the author, or is a photograph, copyright lasts until 50 years after the work is first published.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 3(6)]}
• Works produced by collaboration between two or more authors where the individual contributions are not separate are protected until 50 years after the last surviving author died.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 3(7)]}
• Copyright in anonymous or pseudonymous work other than photographs lasts until 50 years after it was published, unless it is a work of joint authorship where the contributions cannot be separated and the identity of one of the authors is generally known or can be ascertained by reasonable inquiry before the end of this period.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 4]}

In the above, "50 years after [event]" means "until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which [event] happened".

Work made for hire or commissioned

When a person commissions and pays for a photograph, portrait or engraving, they own the copyright in the work. Where a work is made by an employee of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical for the purpose of publication in a periodical, the proprietor has copyright for publication of the work in a periodical, but the author retains copyright for any other use. Otherwise, copyright in a work made in the course of an author's employment is owned by the employer.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 5]}

Work made for the government

The Government owns copyright in an original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work first published in Solomon Islands if first published by or under the direction or control of the Government. For a literary, dramatic or musical work the copyright lasts as long as the work is unpublished, then until 50 years after the work is first published.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 31]} Copyright in an engraving or photograph lasts until 50 years after it is first published, and for other artistic works for 50 years after the work is made.^{[138/1987–1996 Art 31]}

Freedom of panorama

OK for buildings, sculptures, and works of artistic craftsmanship;  Not OK for other types of artistic works (like paintings or photographs). {{FoP-Solomon Islands}}. Under the Copyright Act [Cap 138]:

• The copyright in– (a) any sculpture; or (b) any work of artistic craftsmanship of the kind described in the definition of "artistic work" in subsection (1) of section 2, which is permanently situated in a public place, or in premises open to the public, is not infringed by the making of a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of the work, or the inclusion of the work in a cinematograph film or in a television broadcast.^{[138/1987–1996 Section 7]}
• The copyright in a work of architecture is not infringed by the making of a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of the work, or the inclusion of the work in a cinematograph film or in a television broadcast.^{[138/1987–1996 Section 8]}

De minimis inclusion of other types of artistic works only on audio-visual media

• Without prejudice to the provisions of subsections (7) and (8), the copyright in an artistic work is not infringed by the inclusion of the work in a cinematograph film or in a television broadcast, if that inclusion is only by way of background or is otherwise only incidental to the principal matters represented in the film or broadcast.^{[138/1987–1996 Section 9]}

Publication of images resulting from the aforementioned actions

• The copyright in an artistic work is not infringed by the publication of a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematograph film, if by virtue of subsections (7) or (8) or (9) the making of that painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or film did not constitute an infringement of the copyright.^{[138/1987–1996 Section 10]}

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Somalia

Somalia

Copyright rules: Somalia Shortcut: COM:SOMALIA
Durations
Standard	Life + 30 years
Other
Common licence tags	{{PD-Somalia}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SOM
Treaties
URAA restoration date‌*	none
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Somalia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Somalia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Somalia and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Somalia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

In the late 19th century the British and Italian empires established the colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. Italian occupation lasted until 1941, when a British military administration took over. In 1949 Italian Somaliland became a United Nations Trusteeship under Italian administration. The two regions united on 1 July 1960 to form the independent Somali Republic. On 18 May 1991 the former British Somaliland unilaterally declared independence from Somalia.

Copyright in British Somaliland was covered by the 1911 Copyright Act, which was superseded by the Copyright Act 1956. Italian laws covered Italian Somaliland. These two sets of laws remained in force in the respective regions until the Somali Democratic Republic passed the first Copyright Law, Law No. 66 of 7 September 1977. The 1977 law does not appear to have been widely used or enforced, and it is unclear whether it is relevant to the breakaway state of Somaliland.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, did not list any IP laws enacted by the legislature of Somalia. The Ministry of Education, Culture & Tourism has published a press law dated June 2017 on the government website, which refers to copyright. The law does not specify a duration and is unclear.

The United States Copyright Office declares the state of copyright relations with Somalia to be "unclear", as opposed to "none".

General rules

According to the 1977 Copyright Law - Law No. 66 of 7 September 1977, Somali law includes copyright protection for registered works. However, there is no longer anywhere to register copyrights. There are records of a copyright office existing prior to being destroyed in the civil war in 1991. Durations were:

• The copyright of (registered) literary and artistic and scientific works shall be protected during the life of the author and for a further period of 30 years after his death.^{[6/1977 (Art.24)]}
• In the case of joint works, the copyright shall be protected up to 30 years after the death of the last surviving author.^{[6/1977 (Art.24.2)]}
• Works whose authors are not known or were published anonymously or under pseudonyms shall enjoy protection from the date when the unknown name or the real name of the author is found in the Copyright Register.^{[6/1977 (Art.25)]}
• Works undertaken after the death of an author shall enjoy protection from the date of their publication.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Somalia}}

Freedom of panorama

• De facto:  Unsure
• De jure:  Not OK.

The list of exceptions or limitations to copyright in Law No. 66 of 7 September 1977, Sections 33–35, does not include a freedom of panorama provision. For artistic works, Section 35 states these can only be used freely for personal or educational purposes (thus non-commercial uses of artistic works).

However, in practice there are no protected architecture and public artistic works in Somalia, as the law required registration for these to be protected by copyright, granting a short 30-year copyright duration. There is no longer anywhere to register copyrights; records indicate of a copyright office that existed before being destroyed in the civil war in 1991.

See also

• Somalia
• Category:Stamps of Somalia
• Category:Stamps of Somaliland
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Puntland
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Somaliland

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:South Africa

South Africa

Copyright rules: South Africa Shortcut: COM:ZA
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Government	Publish + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-South-Africa}} {{PD-South-Africa-exempt}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	ZAF
Treaties
Berne convention	3 October 1928
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of South Africa relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in South Africa must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both South Africa and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from South Africa, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The Union of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910 as a semi-independent polity under the British crown. It became fully independent on 11 December 1931.

South Africa has been a member of the Berne Convention since 3 October 1928 and the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978, as amended up to Copyright Amendment Act 2002) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of South Africa. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

This was amended by the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act 2013 (Act No. 28 of 2013) to provide for the recognition and protection of indigenous works.

Protected works

Admissible as it was photographed 50+ years after the death of the author

• The copyright in photographs and cinematograph films expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the work (1) is made available to the public with the copyright owner's consent; or (2) is first published, whichever is longer. If a work is neither made available to the public or published within 50 years of the making of the work, its copyright expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the work was made.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(b)]}
• The copyright in an unpublished literary, musical or artistic work (except a photograph) by an author whose identity is known expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the author dies.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(a)]}
• If the work is jointly authored by more than one author, copyright expires 50 years from the end of the year in which in which the last surviving author dies.^{[98/2002–2013 3(4)]}
• If a literary, musical or artistic work, or an adaptation of it, has been published, performed in public, offered for public sale, or broadcast, its copyright expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the first of these acts is done.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(a)]} In general, a work is "published" if copies of it have been issued to the public with the copyright owner's consent in sufficient quantities to reasonably meet the public's needs, having regard to the nature of the work.^{[98/2002–2013 1(5)(a)]} A cinematograph film or sound recording is published if copies of it have been sold, let, hired, or offered for sale or hire: section 1(5)(b). However, publication does not include performing a cinematograph film, musical work, or sound recording; broadcasting a work; exhibiting a work of art; or constructing a work of architecture.^{[98/2002–2013 1(5)(d)]}
• Copyright in an anonymous or pseudonymous work expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the work is made available to the public with the copyright owner's consent, or in which it is reasonable to presume that the author died, whichever is shorter. If the author's identity becomes known before this period expires, then the work is treated as a work by an identified author for the purpose of determining when its copyright expires.^{[98/2002–2013 3(3)]}
• The copyright in a literary, musical or artistic work (except for photographs) created by the Government of South Africa expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the work was first published.^{[98/2002–2013 5(3)]}
• Copyright in the following works expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the specified act occurs:
  • Broadcasts – when the broadcast first takes place.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(d)]}
  • Programme-carrying signals – when the signals are emitted to a satellite.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(d)]}
  • Published editions – when the edition is first published.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(f)]} (A "published edition" is the first print by whatever process of a particular typographical arrangement of a literary or musical work.^{[98/2002–2013 1(1)(d)]})
  • Sound recordings – when the recording is first published.^{[98/2002–2013 3(2)(c)]}

Works in which no copyright subsists

No copyright subsists in the following works:^{[98/2002–2013 12(8)]}

• Official texts of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, or in official translations of such texts.
• Political speeches or speeches delivered in the course of legal proceedings. (However, the author of speeches has the exclusive right to create a collection of such speeches.)
• News of the day that are mere items of press information.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-SAGov}} – Work of the South African Government that was published more than 50 years ago.
• {{PD-South-Africa}} – for photographs from South Africa 50 years after publication.
• {{PD-South-Africa-exempt}} – for (images of or from) South African official texts of a legislative, administrative or legal nature.

Currency

 Not OK: Copyright of the designs of South African banknotes and coins is owned by the South African Reserve Bank. Their document "Policy on the reproduction of images of South African Currency" sets out the policy of the bank in respect to the reproduction of South African coins and banknotes. In short, only news media can produce such images and then only because of time constraints in obtaining formal permission. Under the Copyright Act of 1978, such copyright lasts for 50 years.

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK The Copyright Act 1978 of South Africa (as at 18 June 2002), section 15(3), states: "The copyright in an artistic work shall not be infringed by its reproduction or inclusion in a cinematograph film or a television broadcast or transmission in a diffusion service, if such work is permanently situated in a street, square or a similar public place."

A diffusion service is defined in section 1(1) as "a telecommunication service of transmissions consisting of sounds, images, signs or signals, which takes place over wires or other paths provided by material substance and intended for reception by specific members of the public; and diffusion shall not be deemed to constitute a performance or a broadcast or as causing sounds, images, signs or signals to be seen or heard; and where sounds, images, signs or signals are displayed or emitted by any receiving apparatus to which they are conveyed by diffusion in such manner as to constitute a performance or a causing of sounds, images, signs or signals to be seen or heard in public, this shall be deemed to be effected by the operation of the receiving apparatus."

Since section 15(3) does not mention photographs, there is no freedom of panorama exemption in South Africa that would permit photographs of artistic works to be taken without infringing the copyright in the works.

Recent developments

See Freedom of Panorama ZA and meta:Wikimedia South Africa/Copyright Amendement Bill for updates on the efforts by South African Wikimedians to have freedom of panorama introduced in the country.

Stamps

South African stamps older than 50 years (published before 1 January 1974) are in the public domain, use {{PD-SAGov}}

See also

• South Africa
• Category:License tags of South Africa
• Category:South African FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of South Africa

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:South Korea

South Korea

Copyright rules: South Korea Shortcut: COM:ROK
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-South Korea}} {{PD-Korea-1910-1945}} {{PD-Korea-1910-1945-film}} {{PD-Korea-1910-1945-photo}} {{PD-old-auto}} {{KOAL}} {{KOGL}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	KOR
Treaties
Berne convention	21 August 1996
Univ. Copyright Convention	1 October 1987
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	24 June 2004
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of South Korea relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in South Korea must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both South Korea and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from South Korea, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Korea was annexed by Imperial Japan in 1910. After World War II ended in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south occupied by the United States. In 1948, separate governments were formed in North Korea and South Korea.

South Korea has been a member of the Universal Copyright Convention since 1 October 1987, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995, the Berne Convention since 21 August 1996 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 24 June 2004.

As of 2021 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act (Act No. 432 of January 28, 1957, as amended up to Act No. 17588 of December 8, 2020) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of South Korea. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

Types of protected work

Examples of protected works include:^{[3916/1987–2020 Article 4]}

• Fiction, poetry, articles, lectures, speeches and other literary works
• Musical works
• Pantomime, theater, dance and other theatrical works
• Calligraphy, painting, sculpture, prints, crafts, applied arts and other art works
• Models, design plans and other works used for building and construction
• Photographs
• Cinematographic works
• Maps, charts, plans, directions, models and other forms of work
• Computer programs

Not protected

Under the Copyright Act (Act No. 432 of January 28, 1957, as amended up to Act No. 17588 of December 8, 2020), works that fall under any of the following are not protected by copyright.^{[3916/1987–2020 Article 7]}

• Constitution, laws, treaties, orders, ordinances and rules
• Public notices, announcements, orders, and other similar matters by the State or local governments
• Judgment, decision, order and trial or administrative trial procedure of the court, other resolutions, decisions, etc. through similar procedures
• Compilation or translation of those stipulated in subparagraphs 1 through 3, prepared by the State or local government
• News reports that only convey facts

General rules

Under the Copyright Act (Act No. 432 of January 28, 1957, as amended up to Act No. 14634 of March 21, 2017),

• An author's property rights survive 70 years after the author has died, except where otherwise specified.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 39]}
• Property rights in a joint work survive 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 39]}
• An anonymous or pseudonymous work is protected 70 years from publication unless the author becomes know during this period, in which case protection lasts as in Article 39.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 40]}
• A work created during employment is protected for 70 years from the time of publication. However, if it is not published within 50 years from creation it is protected for 70 years from creation.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 41]}
• An audiovisual work is protected for 70 years from publication. However, if it is not published within 50 years from creation it is protected for 70 years from creation.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 42]}
• The term of protection lasts until end of the year of the author's death, or year of creation or publication as applicable.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 44]}
• Neighboring rights are protected for 70 years from performance, recording or broadcast, as applicable.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 86]} Note that, for musical recordings, the underlying musical work will also need to be out of copyright.

Pre-1963 deaths, organization works

Copyright protection durations were 30 years before 1957 and 50 years before July 2013. This applies to copyrighted works of which authors died before 1 January 1963, or which were made public in the name of an organization before 1 January 1963.

Furthermore, with the exceptions of photographs reproducing otherwise copyrighted works of art, and photographs inserted into a work of study or art and produced only for the purpose of inclusion within said work, photographs or other works of a similar form to photography either published or produced in negative on or before 31 December 1976 are now in the public domain in the Republic of Korea as their term of copyright has expired there.

There are exceptional cases. Property rights are to belong to the state according to provisions of the Civil Law and other laws upon the death of a copyright owner without heir or, in the case of a legal person or organization, upon its dissolution. The product must also be in the public domain in the United States.

Status in the United States

For deciding if the work is out of copyright in the U.S., it's necessary to figure out whether the work was in copyright in 1996. If a work went out of copyright before the 1986 act extended copyright terms from 30 years to 50 years, it does not regain copyright. The act came into force in 1987, hence, works where all authors died before 1957 are out of copyright in both South Korea and the U.S.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-South Korea}} – for works whose author died more than 70 years ago or published in the name of an organization more than 70 years ago.
• {{PD-KoreaGov}} – for government works not protected by copyright laws
• {{PD-Korea-1910-1945}} – Work made while Korea was under Japanese occupation
• {{PD-Korea-1910-1945-photo}} – Photograph made while Korea was under Japanese occupation
• {{PD-Korea-1910-1945-film}} – Film made while Korea was under Japanese occupation
• {{KOAL}} - Permissive type of Korean Open Access License
• {{KOGL}} - Type 1 of Korea Open Government License

Cheque

 Not OK. South Korean cheques are copyrighted by Korea Federation of Banks. Korea Federation of Banks doesn't provide terms of use.

See also: Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2021/04#Is it OK to upload South Korean cheques?

Currency

OK. The Bank of Korea owns copyright on all currency issued in South Korea since its establishment in 1950. The Bank of Korea allows anyone to reproduce and use the reproduction of its currency without requiring a permission but under certain restrictions, as explained in the Guidelines for the Reproduction of Bank of Korea Notes and Coins.

For electronic reproductions the resolution of the image in its original size must not exceed 72dpi, and the word "SPECIMEN" or "보기" must be marked on either the obverse or the reverse of any part, excluding the portrait, of the reproduction and must be plainly distinguishable but inseparable from the reproduction. The size of the word "SPECIMEN" or "보기" must larger than the word "Bank of Korea" on the top center of the front side of the banknote, and must be in a non-transparent color that is clearly contrasted with the main color of the respective banknote. This also applies to partial reproductions.

Please use {{South Korean currency}} for South Korean currency images that meet the requirement of Section 3.C (Intangible reproductions) of the currency reproduction guidelines.

De minimis

This photo is not copyright infringement because Lotte World Tower is not main object in this image, it's incidentally included.

Under the Copyright Act (as amended up to Act No. 16600 of November 26, 2019),

Article 35-3 (Incidental Inclusion, etc.),

A work seen or heard in the courses of photographing, voice recording, or video recording (hereinafter referred to as "shooting, etc." in this Article), where it is incidentally included in the main object of shooting, etc., may be reproduced, distributed, performed in public, displayed, or publicly transmited. That where it unreasonably prejudices the interest of the holder of author's economic right in light of the type and nature of the used work, the purpose and character of use, etc, the same shall not apply.

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK, non-commercial only for artistic works, buildings, and photographs. {{NoFoP-South Korea}}

Note: Please tag South Korean no-FoP deletion requests: <noinclude>[[Category:South Korean FOP cases/pending]]</noinclude>
Under the Copyright Act (as amended up to Act No. 8101 of June 29, 2007),

Article 35 (Exhibition or Reproduction of Works of Art, etc.),

(1) The holder of the original of a work of art, architectural work or photographic work (hereinafter referred to as “work of art, etc.”), or a person who has obtained the holder’s consent, may exhibit the work in its original form: Provided, That where the work of art is to be permanently exhibited on the street, in the park, on the exterior of a building, or other places open to the public, the same shall not apply.

(2) Works of art, etc. exhibited at all times at an open place as referred to in the proviso to paragraph (1) may be reproduced and used by any means: Provided, That in any of the following cases, the same shall not apply:

1. Where a building is reproduced into another building;
2. Where a sculpture or painting is reproduced into another sculpture or painting;
3. Where the reproduction is made in order to exhibit permanently at an open place under the proviso to paragraph (1);
4. Where the reproduction is made for the purpose of selling its copies.

(3) A person who exhibits works of art, etc. pursuant to paragraph (1), or who intends to sell originals of works of art, etc., may reproduce and distribute them in a pamphlet for the purpose of explaining or introducing them.

(4) No portrait nor a similar photographic work produced by commission shall be used without the consent of the commissioner.

This permits any reproduction of works permanently installed in "open places", 35.(2).4 specifically states that the rule does not apply "where reproduction is made for the purpose of selling its copies." Reproduction is defined in Section 2.(22) as "...the fixation or the reproduction in a tangible medium by means of printing, photographing, copying, sound or visual recording, or other means." Selling reproduction of artistic works in public place is not allowed, for examples, selling postcard, calendar, collection of photos in which the artistic works have major part is not allowed.

Exception

OK for non-building structures (such as bridges, dams, tunnels, etc.)

Non-building structures are not mentioned in Copyright Act Article 4, so they do not have a copyright in South Korea. Please use {{PD-structure|KOR}} or {{PD-SK-nonbuilding-structure}} for photos of South Korean non-building structures.

See also: Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Yi Sun-sin Bridge

Stamps

According to Articles 39 to 44 of the Copyright Act of the Republic of Korea, copyrighted works enter the public domain 70 years after publication when made public in the name of an organization. Use {{PD-South Korea}} if published before 1 January 1963.

Threshold of originality

According to a machine translation of the Copyright Act as amended up to Act No. 14634 of March 21, 2017,

• "Work" refers to a creation that expresses human thoughts or feelings.^{[432/1957–2017 Article 2.2]}

The Supreme Court of South Korea declared that it is sufficient to be work if:

• it is not just an imitation,
• it has own characteristics as a product of mental efforts, and
• it can be distinguished from existing ones.

Seoul High Court judged the seagull pattern and the figure of Ebisu of EVISU Japan is not copyrighted because they cannot be recognized for originality. Also, The Supreme Court of South Korea has ruled that typefaces are not copyrighted. (See also Commons:Copyright rules by territory/South Korea § Signatures)

However, the Supreme Court of South Korea judged the logo of Fox Racing is copyrighted.

Signatures

OK for a typical signature: The Supreme Court of South Korea has ruled that typefaces are not protected by copyright.

 Not OK for calligraphic signatures: According to Copyright Act Article 4, calligraphy is protected by copyright (See also Commons:Copyright rules by territory/South Korea § Types of protected work).

See also

• 대한민국
• Category:License tags of South Korea
• Category:South Korean FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of South Korea
• User:Piotrus/KoreaCopyright

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:South Sudan

South Sudan

Copyright rules: South Sudan Shortcut: COM:SOUTH SUDAN
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 25 years
Anonymous	Publish + 25 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 25 years
Posthumous	Publish + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SSD
Treaties
URAA restoration date‌*	None
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of South Sudan relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in South Sudan must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both South Sudan and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from South Sudan, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Governing laws

South Sudan gained its independence from the Republic of the Sudan on 9 July 2011. Article 198 of the Constitution of the South Sudan declares that "All laws of South Sudan shall remain in force [...] unless new action are taken [...]." Section 35 of the Investment Promotion Act (2009)] states: "The Government shall protect the intellectual property rights of all persons and investors in Southern Sudan and shall enforce rights to trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual property rights in accordance with any related international conventions to which the Republic of the Sudan is a signatory."

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 1996 as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

Under the 1996 Act,

• The protection of economic rights in a work shall last during the author’s life and 50 years after his death.^{[1996 Section 13(2)]}
• The term of protection shall last 25 years from the date of publication of the following works:
  • photographic pictures and cinematographic films and other audiovisual works.^{[1996 Section 13(3a)]}
  • works which are published for the first time after the author’s death.^{[1996 Section 13(3b)]}
  • works published under unknown pseudonym or anonymously; the term shall start to run from the date of first publication.^{[1996 Section 13(3c)]}
• In relation to a joint work the period shall start to run from the date of death of the last surviving author.^{[1996 Section 13(4)]}

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 1996, article 14 covers restrictions on copyright, i.e. cases where copyright protection does not apply. It states that "newspapers, magazines, periodicals, radio and television may: ... (c) publish or convey any photograph taken on the occasion of a public event or a photograph concerning an official or famous person; in all such cases the title of the work reproduced and the name of its author shall be mentioned." This does not allow other uses of photographs, e.g. for outdoor advertising, so would not be acceptable for Commons.

Note that due to lack of a copyright treaty, most works from South Sudan are in the public domain in the United States and most other countries. However, files uploaded to Commons must also be free in the country of origin.

See also

• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Sudan

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Soviet Union

Soviet Union

Copyright rules: the Soviet Union Shortcut: COM:Soviet Union
Durations
Standard	Life + 25 years
Other
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-RusEmpire}} {{PD-RU-exempt}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	~
Treaties
Univ. Copyright Convention	27 May 1973

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of the former Soviet Union relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in the former Soviet Union must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both the country of origin and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from the former Soviet Union, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union, was a state that spanned large parts of eastern Europe and northern Asia that existed from 30 December 1922 to 26 December 1991. It succeeded the Russian Empire, and comprised 15 nominally independent republics.

Before 1 June 1973 the general term of protection was for the lifetime of the author plus 15 years after death. The Soviet Union joined the Universal Copyright Convention on 27 May 1973, and the term of protection was retroactively extended to life plus 25 years. This remained in effect until the USSR was dissolved.

Successor states

In 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved. 12 of the republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and are the legal successors of the USSR. These are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The three Baltic republics, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania took the position that they had been occupied countries rather than members of the USSR, and chose not to join the CIS.

Works published in the former USSR should be in the public domain under the laws of the successor country of origin and the United States if they are to be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons.

Note: There was a discussion whether pre-1973 works from the Soviet Union are copyright-free, originating in the period of uncertainty after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was concluded that this theory is incorrect; see discussions in Template talk:PD-Soviet.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-RusEmpire}} for works published before 1917
• {{PD-RU-exempt}} for works exempt from copyright

Currency

OK Former USSR currency is not copyrighted.

Please use {{PD-RU-exempt}} for images of Soviet (USSR) currency.

Freedom of panorama

Most of the successor nations of the Soviet Union have identical provisions on freedom of panorama and restrict it to non-commercial uses only. Refer to the pages describing the copyright rules for each member state for current rules.

Stamps

use {{PD-RU-exempt|stamps}}

Since, according to intergovernmental and international treaties, Russian Federation is a legal successor to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the tag {{PD-RU-exempt}} (please see "Russia" above) also applies to images of postage stamps, stamped covers and stamped post cards (postal stationery) of the RSFSR and USSR.

See also

• Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
• Category:Stamps of the Soviet Union
• COM:CRT/Armenia
• COM:CRT/Azerbaijan
• COM:CRT/Belarus
• COM:CRT/Estonia
• COM:CRT/Georgia
• COM:CRT/Kazakhstan
• COM:CRT/Kyrgyzstan
• COM:CRT/Latvia
• COM:CRT/Lithuania
• COM:CRT/Moldova
• COM:CRT/Russia
• COM:CRT/Tajikistan
• COM:CRT/Turkmenistan
• COM:CRT/Ukraine
• COM:CRT/Uzbekistan

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Spain

Spain

Copyright rules: Spain Shortcut: COM:SPAIN
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years*
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years*
Audiovisual	Life + 70 years*
Other
Freedom of panorama	Unclear
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-SpanishGov}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	ESP
Treaties
Berne convention	5 December 1887
Univ. Copyright Convention	16 September 1955
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	14 March 2010
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Spain relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Spain must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Spain and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Spain, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Spain has been a member of the Berne Convention since 5 December 1887, the Universal Copyright Convention since 16 September 1955, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 14 March 2010.

The Royal Act 1/1996, of 12 April 1996 approved the revised text of the Intellectual Property Law, the main IP law. The consolidated text incorporating revisions up to 14 April 2018 is provided on their website by the Boletin Oficial del Estado. The act repealed Law 22/1987, of November 11, on Intellectual Property and subsequent amendments. The Law of 10 January 1879 on intellectual property still applies to works by authors who died before the 1987 Law took effect.

General rules

Under the 1996 Intellectual Property Law as amended up to 14 April 2018,

• The rights of exploitation of a work last for the life of the author and 70 years after his death or declaration of death.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 26]}
• The exploitation rights of anonymous or pseudonymous works last 70 years from their lawful disclosure, as long as the author does not become known during this period.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 27(1)]}
• The rights of exploitation of the works that have not been lawfully disclosed last 70 years from their creation, when the term of protection is not computed from the death or declaration of death of the author or authors.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 27(2)]}
• The exploitation rights of collaborative works, including cinematographic and audiovisual works, last for the life of the coauthors and 70 years after the death or declaration of death of the last surviving co-author.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 28(1)]}
• With musical compositions with lyrics, exploitation rights will last the entire life of the author of the lyrics and the author of the musical composition and 70 years from the death or declaration of death of the last survivor, provided that their contributions were created specifically for the respective musical composition with lyrics.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 28(1)]}
• Terms of protection established are computed from 1 January of the year following the death or declaration of death of the author or of the legal disclosure of the work, as appropriate.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 30]}

However, works of authors who died before 7 December 1987 (or were published before that date, in case of anonymous works) are dealt with by the 1879 law, which sets a protection time of 80 years post mortem auctoris.^{[1879 Article 6]}

Collective work

A collective work is a work created through the initiative and under the coordination of a natural or legal person who publishes and disseminates it under their name and is formed by combining contributions of different authors whose personal contributions are unique and autonomous creations, by which it has been created without it being possible to attribute separately to any of the authors a right over the whole of the work carried out. Unless otherwise agreed, the rights over the collective work shall correspond to the person who publishes and discloses it under his name.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 8]}

The exploitation rights over a collective works last 70 years from the lawful disclosure of the protected work. However, if the natural persons who have created the work are identified as authors in the versions of it that are made accessible to the public, the provisions of articles 26 or 28.1, as appropriate, will be applied. These provisions are without prejudice to the rights of the identified authors whose identifiable contributions are contained in said works, to which article 26 and 28(1) apply.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 28(2)]}

Not protected

Intellectual property protection does not apply to laws and regulations and their corresponding projects, resolutions and acts of jurisdictional bodies, agreements, deliberations and opinions of public bodies, as well as official translations of all the previous texts.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 13]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Spain-photo}} – for simple photographs taken at least 25 years ago
• {{PD-SpanishGov}} – for some works by the Spanish government, like laws
• {{PD-SpanishGov-money}} - for images of the former Spanish pesetas currency
• {{PD-La Moncloa}} – for content from www.lamoncloa.gob.es which was selected or coordinated by the Secretary of State for Communications (only valid for images uploaded before 26 November 2012)
• {{Attribution-Catalonia}} – for content from the Parliament of Catalonia (Parlament de Catalunya)
• {{Attribution-IGN}} - for CC-BY 4.0 licensed maps or other content from Instituto Geográfico Nacional (Spain's National Geographic Institute)

Currency

OK: Regarding former Spanish national currency, the pesetas, there is "no significant jurisprudence on the application of copyright to banknotes" per 1999 Report on the Legal Protection of Banknotes in the European Union Member States. Additionally, there is "no use of the copyright symbol: © on Spanish banknotes". The rules for reproduction of pesetas only have provisions for advertising purposes. Reproductions for teaching materials in particular do not require the authorisation of the Bank of Spain.

{{PD-SpanishGov-money}} can be used to tag images of Spanish pesetas.

Spain has used the Euro since 1 January 2002. See COM:CRT/European Union:Currency for Euro banknotes and the shared side of Euro coins.

 Not OK for the national side of Euro coins.

Freedom of panorama

 Unsure

{{FoP-Spain}} Under the the 1996 Intellectual Property Law as amended up to 14 April 2018,

• Works permanently located in parks or on streets, squares or other public tracks and passes may be freely reproduced, distributed and communicated by painting, drawing, photography and audiovisual processes.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 35(2)]}

In 1998, Article 40bis was non retroactively introduced in the law, limiting this exception:

• The above may not be so interpreted that they could be applied in a manner capable of unreasonably prejudicing the legitimate interests of the author or adversely affecting the normal exploitation of the works to which they refer.^{[1/1996-2018 Article 40bis]}

After the introduction of Article 40bis, some Spanish courts have ruled against commercial use of some works situated in public spaces, including Monumento a Los Raqueros and Toro de Osborne. However, in both cases the work had been extracted from its surrounding panorama, and commercialized in that form. In other cases, such as the verdict nº195/2014 from the Audiencia Provincial de Madrid, courts have ruled that works situated in "public areas" can be subject to the exception (that is, they have ruled in favor of freedom of panorama, at least for works situated in "public areas"). According to further analysis, authorization from the copyright holder for commercial use of photographs and derivative and composed works of a copyrighted work, could possibly be necessary when the work is "located in a private property that is accessible to public view or that is not considered a public area". In the case of the Toro de Osborne, the court considered that only cultural uses were allowed by Article 35.2, excluding any kind of commercial use.

Toro de Osborne Case

By decision dated January 31, 2006, the Provincial Court of Seville considered that the commercial use of the figure or silhouette of the Toro de Osborne (originally conceived and designed as a trademarked logo in 1956) through items such as hats, t-shirts, keychains, stickers, postcards, ashtrays, tiles, ceramics, coasters, as well as scaled reproductions of the same, constitutes a criminal infringement of the copyright under Article 270 of the Penal Code, as it involves an "intent to obtain direct or indirect economic benefit" and is carried out "to the detriment of a third party." The Court interpreted the limitation of the panorama exception provided in Article 35(2) of the Intellectual Property Law (LPI) in accordance with the provisions of Article 40 bis of the LPI, stating that: "only the exploitation of the same with a strict or predominantly cultural dimension has been allowed, and any use of the same without its consent (from the owner) that exceeds the aforementioned purpose must be understood as unauthorized.".

Raqueros Case

By decision dated April 5, 2006, the Provincial Court of Cantabria, decided that a sculptural ensemble known as the "Grupo de Raqueros", permanently installed in a public thoroughfare (Paseo Marítimo), commissioned by the Government of Cantabria or by the Santander City Council, is reproduced in an acrylic based material, intended for public sale as tourist souvenirs. According to the decision, the author keeps the exploitation rights over it, and the Provincial Court of Cantabria ordered some of the defendants to compensate the author for moral and economic damages, due to the distribution of unauthorized reproductions.

Refer to this discussion for more information. Spanish Wikimedian MarcoAurelio provides an insight on the situation of the Spanish freedom of panorama.

See also: Category:Spanish FOP cases.

Stamps

. Communication with Spain's Philatelic Bureau suggests no public domain. Permission to scan images of Spanish stamps requires a specific request to the Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos.

According to Spanish copyright law, while most official works are not protected by copyright, standalone images are specifically exempted, and the author retains copyright. So it is safe to assume that Spanish stamps are copyright their designers, in which case they are protected for 70 years after the author's death, or 80 years if the author died before 1988. If the designer is unknown, the stamp falls into the public domain 70 years after it was issued, or 80 years if issued before 1987.

Threshold of originality

STS 4443/2004 notes that a work must have the characteristics of "uniqueness, individuality and distinguishability" to qualify for protection.

STS 1644/2017 concerns architecture and states "The terms in which an architectural project is drawn up largely respond to the technical or functional requirements and compliance with urban regulations. When this is the case, the project or the architectural buildings are not protected by copyright in the part imposed by those technical, functional or normative requirements"; and more generally, "the factor of recognizability or differentiation of the work with respect to the pre-existing ones [is] essential to grant an exclusive right with moral and patrimonial aspects".

See also

• España
• Category:License tags of Spain
• Category:Stamps of Spain
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/European Union

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Copyright rules: Sri Lanka Shortcut: COM:SRI LANKA
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 70 years
Collective	Create/publish + 70 years
Applied art	Create + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-Sri Lanka}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	LKA
Treaties
Berne convention	4 February 1948
Univ. Copyright Convention	25 January 1984
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Sri Lanka relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Sri Lanka must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Sri Lanka and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Sri Lanka, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Sri Lanka was occupied by the British in 1815. The country declared independence on 4 February 1948.

Sri Lanka has been a member of the Berne Convention since 4 February 1948. The declaration of continued application to the Berne convention after the accession of the State to independence was made on 20 July 1959, applicable as of the accession of the country to independence. Sri Lanka joined the World Trade Organization as of 1 January 1995.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Intellectual Property Act (Act No. 36 of 2003) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Sri Lanka. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. The 2003 Act repealed the Code of Intellectual Property Act, No. 52 of 1979.^{[36/2003 Section 208(1)]}

Applicability

Copyright covers original literary and artistic works: writings such as books, computer programs, articles, oral works such as speeches and lectures, dramas, musical works, films, works of architecture, drawings, paintings and photographs.^{[36/2003 Section 6]} Collections and derivative works such as databases and translations are also protected.^{[36/2003 Section 7]}

General rules

Under Sri Lanka's Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003,

• Economic and moral rights are protected during the life of the author and for 70 years from the date of his death.^{[36/2003 Section 13(1)]}
• With a work of joint authorship, the rights are protected during the life of the last surviving author and for 70 years from the date of the death of the last surviving author.^{[36/2003 Section 13(2)]}
• For a collective work, other than a work of applied art, and for an audiovisual work, the rights are protected for 70 years from the date on which the work was first published, or failing publication within 70 years from the making of the work.^{[36/2003 Section 13(3)]}
• With a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the rights are protected for 70 years from the date on which the work was first published, provided the author does not become known during that period.^{[36/2003 Section 13(4)]}
• With a work of applied art, the rights are protected for 25 years from the date of the making of the work.^{[36/2003 Section 13(5)]}
• Every period provided for above runs to the end of the calendar year in which it would otherwise expire.^{[36/2003 Section 13(6)]}

Not protected

Under Sri Lanka's Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003,

• Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 6 and 7, no protection shall be extended under this Part (a) to any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; (b) to any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof; (c) to news of the day published, broadcast, or publicly communicated by any other means.^{[36/2003 Section 8]}

Expression of folklore: not free

Under Sri Lanka's Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003,

• Subject to the provision of subsection (4) of this section expressions of folklore shall be protected against (a) reproduction; (b) communication to the public by performance, broadcasting, distribution by cable or other means; (c) adaptation, translation and other transformation, when such expressions are made either for commercial purposes or outside their traditional or customary context.^{[36/2003 Section 24(1)]}
• The right to authorize acts referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall subject to the payment of a prescribed fee, vest in a Competent authority to be determined by the Minister.^{[36/2003 Section 24(4)]}
• The money collected under subsection (4) shall be used for purposes of cultural development.^{[36/2003 Section 24(5)]}

Currency

 Not OK The government works that are excepted from copyright are only "any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof" (Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003, at Section 8B), so it is assumed that banknotes and coins are protected and not appropriate for Commons.

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK The prevailing Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003 does not provide any freedom of panorama clause. The exceptions at Section 11 only deal with U.S.-style "fair use" like criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.^{[36/2003 Section 11]}

The now-repealed Code of Intellectual Property Act, No. 52 of 1979 had a limited freedom of panorama for films and television broadcasts only, as long as the source and name of the author of the works of art and architecture "permanently located in a place where they can be viewed by the public" were mentioned in the films or television broadcasts.^{[52/1979 Section 13(d)]}

Sri Lankan copyright law was revised 2001–2003, dropping any direct reference to anything resembling "freedom of panorama". Still the legal right of the repealed law would not be compatible to Wikimedia Commons as it was for films and television broadcasts only, excluding photographs.

Stamps

. The Intellectual Property Act No 36 of 2003 is silent on stamps, so assume copyrighted until general term of protection expires. It seems that stamps would be public domain if published before 1 January 1954, use {{PD-Sri Lanka}}.

See also

• Sri Lanka
• Category:Sri Lankan FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of Sri Lanka

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Sudan

Sudan

Copyright rules: Sudan Shortcut: COM:SUDAN
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 25 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Common licence tags	{{PD-Sudan}} {{PD-Sudan-Photo}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SDN
Treaties
Berne convention	28 December 2000
URAA restoration date‌*	28 December 2000
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Sudan relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Sudan must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Sudan and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Sudan, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

In 1898 the British defeated the Mahdist State and began to govern Sudan jointly with Egypt. Sudan obtained self-government in 1953 and full independence on 1 January 1956.

Sudan has been a member of the Berne Convention since 28 December 2000.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection Act 1996 as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Sudan. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

Under the 1996 Act,

• The protection of economic rights in a work shall last during the author’s life and 50 years after his death.^{[1996 Section 13(2)]}
• The term of protection shall last 25 years from the date of publication of the following works:
  • photographic pictures and cinematographic films and other audiovisual works.^{[1996 Section 13(3a)]}
  • works which are published for the first time after the author’s death.^{[1996 Section 13(3b)]}
  • works published under unknown pseudonym or anonymously; the term starts to run from the date of first publication.^{[1996 Section 13(3c)]}
• In relation to a joint work the period shall start to run from the date of death of the last surviving author.^{[1996 Section 13(4)]}

Government works

Under the 1996 law copyright does not extend to state emblems and symbols or official documents.^{[1996 Section 6]} "Official documents" means the official documents issued by the State or its institution, corporation or unit and which, by virtue of their specialization, are issued for publication to the public, including laws, Presidential or administrative orders, international agreements and judicial judgments, but not including military documents, secret agreements and deliberations of secret sessions in courts or legislative bodies".^{[1996 Section 3]}

Folklore: not free

See also: Commons:Paying public domain

National folklore of the Sudanese community is deemed to be the property of the State. The State represented by the Ministry of Culture and Information, shall endeavor to protect works of folklore by all legal ways and means, and shall exercise the rights of an author in cases of mutilation, transformation and commercial exploitation.^{[1996 Section 7]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Sudan}} – photos and films 25 years after publication, starting from the publication date.
• {{PD-Sudan-Photo}}

Currency

• OK: Banknote designs before 18 December 1996
•  Not OK: Banknote designs on or after 18 December 1996

Sudan's first copyright law entered into force on 18 December 1996 and did not extend protection to works already in the public domain. Banknotes issued before this date are therefore in the public domain in Sudan. Because these banknotes were in the public domain in Sudan before it joined the Berne Convention (28 December 2000), they are also in the public domain in the United States and may be uploaded to Commons.

The status of banknote designs released after 18 December 1996 is unclear. Under Sudanese copyright law, "official documents" are in the public domain, but banknotes may not fall under the definition of "official documents". If that definition does not include banknotes, then banknotes will be protected for 50 years after the death of the last contributing author.

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 1996, article 14 covers restrictions on copyright, i.e. cases where copyright protection does not apply. It states that "newspapers, magazines, periodicals, radio and television may: ... (c) publish or convey any photograph taken on the occasion of a public event or a photograph concerning an official or famous person; in all such cases the title of the work reproduced and the name of its author shall be mentioned." However, this does not allow other uses of photographs, e.g. for outdoor advertising, so would not be acceptable for Commons.

See also

• Category:Sudanese FOP cases

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Suriname

Suriname

Copyright rules: Suriname Shortcut: COM:SURINAME
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Posthumous	Publish + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SUR
Treaties
Berne convention	23 February 1977
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Suriname relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Suriname must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Suriname and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Suriname, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Suriname come under Dutch rule in the late 17th century. In 1954 Suriname became one of the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On 25 November 1975, the country of Suriname became an independent state.

Suriname has been a member of the Berne Convention since 23 February 1977 and the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995.

As of 2019, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Law of March 22, 1913, laying down New Rules on Copyright (as amended up to Decree S.B No. 23 of 1981) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Suriname. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. The law replaced Royal Decree of 11 May 1883 No. 39 (GB No. 11), but Article 11 of that decree remained in force for works and translations published before the 1913 law entered into force.^{[23/1981 Article 44]}

The law was amended once more by act of 17 April 2015. The consolidated copyright act is available on the Dutch Wikisource.

General rules

Under the Law of 1913, as amended up to the act of 17 April 2015,

• Copyright expires after 50 years, starting from 1 January of the year following the year of death of the author, except as provided in the following articles.^{[23/1981 Article 38]}
• The duration of a joint copyright in a work, where two or more persons are joint creators, is calculated from 1 January of the year following the year of death of the last survivor.^{[23/1981 Article 38]}
• Copyright in anonymous works expires after 50 years, starting from 1 January of the year following that in which the first publication of the work has been carried out by or on behalf of the owner.^{[23/1981 Article 39]}
• The same applies to works in which a legal entity such as a public institution or company is the author, and to works that are first made public after the death of the author.^{[23/1981 Article 39]}

Not protected

There is no copyright in general regulations as referred to in Article 2 of the Surinamese Constitution, issued by public power, nor in judgments and administrative decisions.^{[23/1981 Article 11]}

Freedom of panorama

OK. Under the Law of 1913, as amended up to the act of 17 April 2015,

• There is no infringement by a report that records, reproduces and publicly communicates a limited portion of a work of literature, science or art insofar as this is necessary to show the event that is the actual subject matter of the report.^{[23/1981 Article 16bis]}
• There is no infringement of copyright in reproduction of a work that is permanently displayed or visible from a public road if the reproduction by its size or by the method in which it is made is clearly different from the original work. With buildings, this is limited to the exterior.^{[23/1981 Article 18]}

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Sweden

Sweden

Copyright rules: Sweden Shortcut: COM:SWEDEN
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Photograph	Create + 50 years (snapshots)
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Audiovisual	Life + 70 years
Applied art	Create + 10 years (if created before 1960)
Other
Freedom of panorama	Unsure, maybe yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-Sweden-photo}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SWE
Treaties
Berne convention	1 August 1904
Univ. Copyright Convention	1 July 1961
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	14 March 2010
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Sweden relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Sweden must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Sweden and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Sweden, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Governing laws

Sweden has been a member of the Berne Convention since 1 August 1904, the WIPO treaty since 14 March 2010 and the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Act on Copyright in Literary and Artistic Works (1960:729) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Sweden. This has been amended many times over the years that followed. WIPO holds the text of this law with consolidated amendments up to Act (2017:323) of April 2017 in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

Under Act 1960:729 with consolidated amendments up to Act (2017:323),

• Copyright expires at the end of the 70th year after the author's death or, for a joint work, after the last surviving author's death.^{[729/1960-2017 §43]}
• For a cinematographic work, copyright expires at the end of the 70th year after the death of the last survivor of the principal director, screenwriter, dialogue writer and composer of music specifically created for the work.^{[729/1960-2017 §43]}
• For a musical work with text, copyright lasts to the end of the 70th year after the year of death of the last surviving of the composer and lyricist, if the music and text were created specifically for the work.^{[729/1960-2017 §43]}
• For works that have been published without the author being indicated by name, or by their widely known pseudonym or signature, copyright lasts until the end of the 70th year after they were made public. If the originator reveals their identity within this period, the provisions of §43 apply.^{[729/1960-2017 §44]}
• For works that have not been published and whose author is not known, copyright lasts until the end of the 70th year after the date in which the work was created.^{[729/1960-2017 §44]}
• If a person publishes a work for the first time after its copyright has expired, they have copyright until the end of the 25th year after the year when the work was published or made public.^{[729/1960-2017 §44a]}
• Photographs published after 1994 are protected for 70 years after the author's death if they exceed the threshold of originality required for full copyright protection (in the former law, the criterion was "artistic or scientific value"). The definition of a photographic work (fotografiskt verk), as opposed to a photo (fotografisk bild), is not precisely defined. There are still no precedents on this, but in practice, "work" has come to apply only to photos with distinctive originality, not to snapshot-like photos, such as press photos. Photos that lack originality are only protected for 50 years after creation. If the photograph was published before 1994, transitional regulations apply — see {{PD-Sweden-photo}}.
• Government laws and ordinances, decisions and statements published by Swedish authorities, and official translations thereof, are not copyright protected.^{[729/1960-2017 §9]}
• Catalogs and charts containing compilations of a great amount of information, or being the result of a considerable investment, are under copyright for 15 years after the year of their creation, or if they have been published within 15 years from production — for 15 years after the year of publication.^{[729/1960-2017 §49]}
• Copyright for works of applied art created before 1960 expired 10 years after creation regardless of the time of death of the creator.^[448/1970]

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Sweden-photo}} – for images taken by unknown Swedish photographers before 1954 and for public domain photographic images, not photographic work, of Swedish origin taken before 1974
• {{PD-Transportstyrelsen}} – for Swedish road signs from the website of the Swedish Transport Agency.
• {{PD-Ugglan}} – for images from the 2nd edition of Nordisk familjebok (Sweden, 1904–1926)
• {{PD-Nordens Flora}} – for images from Nordens Flora (Sweden, Author: C. A. M. Lindman, 1917–1926).
• {{PD-SFJ}} – for images from Svenska Familj-Journalen (1864–1887)
• {{PD-Sjöfartsverket}} – for Swedish maritime fairway sign produced by the Swedish Maritime Administration.
• {{PD-Sweden-URL9}} – for reproductions of law, decision, or report issued by a Swedish public authority (svensk myndighet) or an official translation of such a text.

Currency

 Not OK. Currency may be protected by copyright in Sweden. Riksbanken advices that the original authors of the works used on banknotes and coins may decide to sue if they feel their moral rights have been violated (which may mean the economic rights are not an issue for Swedish currency). There were undecided lawsuits on the matter at the time of the deletion request. Riksbanken itself seems not to have any claims. On the issue of counterfeit Riksbanken cites the Euro instructions as probably sufficient safeguards.

• See also: Commons:Deletion requests/Image:200 kr swedish coin front white.jpg

De minimis

Article 20a of the copyright law as of 2017 says:

• It is allowed for a film or television program to include copies of works of art or public performances and transfer the artwork to the public, as long as the copy is of secondary importance with respect to the film or television program content. This may be done with artwork that appears in the background of, or otherwise forms an insignificant portion of an image.^{[729/1960-2017 §20a]}

These are  Not OK:

• Thumbnail-sized photos on a screenshot - copyvio of two of the thumbnail-sized photos (NJA 2010 p. 135[3])
• People on a scene with decorations in the background - copyvio of the background (NJA 1981 p. 313)

Freedom of panorama

Public art

 Unsure but in accordance with Wikimedia Foundation's 2017 statement, OK and do not delete photos based only on the court ruling — On 4 April 2016, the Supreme Court of Sweden ruled, that Article 24 does not extend to publication by [Wikimedia Sweden] in their online repository offentligkonst.se, regardless of commercial intent. See also: {{FoP-Sweden}}

Under Act 1960:729 with consolidated amendments up to Act (2017:323) Article 24, the first paragraph of which ('works of art...') was ruled not to apply to online publication:

23. Bestämmelsen i 24 § första stycket 1 upphovsrättslagen, där inskränkningen i upphovsmannens ensamrätt är begränsad till avbildningar, ger inte Wikimedia rätt att från sin databas med fotografier av konstverk, stadigvarande placerade på eller vid allmän plats utomhus, överföra verken via internet till allmänheten. Huruvida förfogandet sker i kommersiellt syfte saknar betydelse. De hänskjutna frågorna ska besvaras i enlighet med detta.

— Point 23 of the ruling of the Swedish Supreme Court.

Translation:

23. The provision in § 24, first paragraph, 1 of the Copyright Act, where the restriction on the author's exclusive right is limited to reproductions in pictorial form, does not give Wikimedia the right to transmit the works via the Internet to the public from its database of photographs of works of art, permanently placed in or at a public place outdoors. Whether the disposal is for commercial purposes is irrelevant.

The reason BUS chose to target the site "offentligkonst.se" and not Wikimedia Commons was (probably) the fact that it made an intrusion to a right previously negotiated between BUS and the municipalities of Sweden (owners of the public art). The supreme court also used the requisite of a database for the ruling, not the publication of the images by themselves.

21. ... Det handlar här om en avvägning i förhållande till det syfte som databasen ska tillgodose (se p. 1). Detta syfte ligger i och för sig inom ramen för vad som kan ses som ett allmänt intresse. En databas av nu aktuellt slag öppnar emellertid för en stor användning av upphovsrättsligt skyddade verk, utan att någon ersättning betalas till upphovsmännen. Det blir därmed fråga om en betydligt större inskränkning i deras ensamrätt än vad bestämmelsen syftar till.

— Point 21 of the ruling of the Swedish Supreme Court.

Translation:

21. ... This is a trade-off in relation to the purpose that the database is to serve (see p. 1). This purpose is in itself within the framework of what can be seen as a public interest. However, a database of the current type allows for a large use of copyrighted works, without any compensation being paid to the authors. It is thus a question of a much greater restriction on their exclusive right than what the provision aims at.

Before the ruling, it was widely believed that the exception in § 24 of the Swedish copyright law applied, permitting depiction of works of art. The exception reads as follows:

Works of fine art may be reproduced in pictorial form

• if they are permanently located on, or at a public outdoor location,^{[729/1960-2017 §24.1]}
• if the purpose is to advertise an exhibition and sale of works of art, but only to the extent necessary to promote the exhibition or sale,^{[729/1960-2017 §24.2]} or
• if they are part of a collective work, in a catalog, but not in digital form.^{[729/1960-2017 §24.3]}

Buildings may be freely depicted.^{[729/1960-2017 §24.3]}

Bildkonst Upphovsrätt i Sverige (BUS, a collection society for visual arts), hold the position, that Article 24 does not apply to publication online. Others, such as the Swedish Wikimedia chapter, reject this position.

The Swedish Wikimedia chapter was sued in 2014 by BUS for alleged copyright violations of outdoor sculptures by providing a website that allows users to view locations of artwork on a map with links to photographs hosted on Wikimedia Commons.

On 4 April 2016, the Supreme Court of Sweden ruled that the first paragraph of Article 24 does not extend to publication in an online repository, regardless of commercial intent.

The implications of that ruling were discussed.

On 6 July 2017, the Patent and Market Court at Stockholm District Court said it thinks that the Article 24 does not give anyone the right to publish photographs of copyrighted public art on the Internet without the consent of the depicted work's author, and ordered the Swedish Wikimedia chapter to cease from further distribution, and to pay damages and court costs. The ruling was not appealed.

Following the WMF official statement on 9 August 2017, it's strongly recommend not to submit any deletion requests just based on simple reasons like "no FOP for artworks in Sweden", and try the best to keep the de facto uploads, with {{FoP-Sweden}} template permanently tagged. If for some other reasons than FOP that the affected files must be nominated for deletion, a Swedish-speaking user must be participated in the related deletion request to explain so. See also: Commons talk:Copyright rules by territory/Sweden#Swedish FOP?

Information boards and maps

 Not OK Information boards and maps are considered works of literature and are not covered by Article 24.

Architecture

 Unsure but in accordance with Wikimedia Foundation's 2017 statement, OK and do not delete photos based only on the court ruling. Architecture is covered in the second paragraph of Article 24:

Byggnader får fritt avbildas.

The paragraph was not discussed in the BUS vs WMSE case. However, WIPO gives a different perspective. Citing the BUS case, WIPO (2022, p. 20) states that "the Supreme Court of Sweden has held that Wikimedia required a license from the relevant right holder in order to lawfully display images of copyright-protected buildings."

Security

Swedish security law (2010:305) dictates, that it is illegal to depict certain sensitive locations in any form. However, this is a non-copyright restriction, and has not been upheld by the community as a limitation of copyrights as discussed on this page.

Stamps

Swedish stamps do not seem to have a copyright exception in Sweden, so stamps are in PD 70 years after the death of the engraver. See also: Category talk:Stamps of Sweden

Threshold of originality

"A simple general rule is that if it is unlikely that two persons would create, for example, a text identically or similarly, the text is probably sufficiently original to qualify as a protected work. (..) Often, the requirements for copyright protection are considered to be relatively low." From the court cases below it can be concluded that the threshold of originality in Sweden is significantly higher then the ditto in the United Kingdom even though it might be considered low compared to the one in the United States.

Status	Example	Notes
OK		The text itself can't be considered to fulfill the general threshold of originality considered for copyright protection. This same interpretation is made whether one sees it as Roman numerals or Latin letters. The logo itself does have some figurative design. The font must however, despite some inconsistancies along the edges, be considered as ordinary and the black rectangle in the background does not contribute to any distinctive character. - Patent- och registreringsverket (Swedish Intellectual Property Office) Invändningsärende nr 2017/00120/01, Registrering nr 540495
OK		The logo consists of an a and a 6. The round part of each character is not closed, however the characters are, besides that, made in a fairly ordinary font without any distinctive character. Between the characters is a simple, sun-feather resembelling, figure with a pointy tip which goes down between the characters. Above this figure there are four points, two to the left and two to the right. The logo is way to simple to be granted such copyright protection which can constitute an impediment for others' trademark registration. - Patent- och registreringsverket (Swedish Intellectual Property Office) Invändningsärende nr 2005/0006/0001, Registrering nr 369154. This ruling was appealed to Patentbesvärsrätten (Patent court of appeals) which settled the original ruling (Mål nr 06-304, vm.reg. 369.154), albeit with one member of the court with a dissenting opinion. Unfortunately, they did not elaborate as to why they settled the original ruling.
OK		Technical drawing. According to decision by the Swedish Supreme Court.NJA 2004 s. 149
Not OK	https://shop.textalk.se/shop/4541/files/entombed/ENT_logo_web.png	The logo has been created using a Gothic font in a way which is frequently used among bands in the genre in question [death metal]. The logotype can thus not be considered to fulfill the demands of originality and distinctive character needed for copyright protection. - Patent- och registreringsverket (Swedish Intellectual Property Office) Invändningsärende 2013/0133/0001, Registrering nr 514059. According to the court, after a comprehensive assessment, the wordmark shows such level of indivudual, distinctive character that it must be considered to possess copyright protection. The court especially values the font of choice, the individual design of the first and last letter and the fact that the first and last letter has been written in caps. - Patent- och marknadsdomstolen (Patent and Market Court) PMÄ 10796-16 This ruling was appealed to Patent- och marknadsöverdomstolen (Patent and Market Court of Appeals) which settled the previous ruling (Mål nr PMÖÄ 5441-17). Unfortunately, they did not elaborate as to why they settled the previous ruling.
Not OK	A black-and-white version of fr:File:Dunderklumpen Logo.png	Ruled above the TOO by Patent- och registreringsverket (Swedish Intellectual Property Office) (Varumärkesansökan nr 2014/00870), another part of the same ruling was appealed to the Patent- och marknadsdomstolen (Patent and Market Court) which settled the original ruling (Mål nr PMÄ 10748-16). Neither instance elaborated further as why the logo was ruled above the TOO but one can speculate that it was because it was a very obvious case.
Not OK	Michelin man lamp	Ruled above the TOO by Patent- och registreringsverket (Swedish Intellectual Property Office) (Varumärkesansökan nr 2015/03538). The office did not elaborate further as why the logo was ruled above the TOO but one can speculate that it was because it was a very obvious case.
Not OK		Mini Maglite torch (Mål: T 1421-07, Högsta domstolen)
Not OK	Porcelain [4]	"Sundborn", made by Rörstrand
Not OK	Photo illustrating a newspaper article	RH 2009:18 (removed from the website in 2004 because of copyright infringement, protected as a photographic work for 70 years after author's death)
Not OK	Knitted tunic	(NJA 1995 s. 164)
Not OK	Technical drawings	(NJA 1998 s. 563)

See also

• Sverige
• Category:License tags of Sweden
• Category:Stamps of Sweden
• Category:Swedish FOP cases

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Switzerland

Switzerland

Copyright rules: Switzerland Shortcut: COM:SWITZERLAND
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-Switzerland-official}} {{PD-Switzerland-photo}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	CHE
Treaties
Berne convention	5 December 1887
Univ. Copyright Convention	30 March 1956
WTO member	1 July 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	1 July 2008
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Switzerland relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Switzerland must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Switzerland and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Switzerland, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Governing laws

Switzerland has been a member of the Berne Convention since 5 December 1887, the World Trade Organization since 1 July 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 1 July 2008.

As of 2024 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Federal Act of October 9, 1992, on Copyright and Related Rights (status as of January 1, 2022) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Switzerland (and holds an unofficial English translation of the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database). The Bundesrat (Federal Council) also holds an unofficial and updated English translation of the law (2023), in addition to the official versions in German, French, Italian and Romansh.

General rules

Under the Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights (Copyright Act, CopA) of 9 October 1992 (Status as of 1 July 2023),

• In general a work is protected by copyright as soon as it is created, irrespective of whether it has been fixed on a physical medium.^{[1992-2023 Art.29(1)]}
• Protection expires a. in the case of computer programs, 50 years after the death of the author; a^bis. 50 years after production for photographic depictions and depictions of three-dimensional objects produced by a process similar to that of photography if the depictions do not have individual character; b. in the case of all other works, 70 years after the death of the author.^{[1992-2023 Art.29(2)]}
• Where it is has to be assumed that the author has been dead for more than 50 or 70 years respectively, protection no longer applies.^{[1992-2023 Art.29(3)]}
• Where two or more persons have participated in the creation of a work, protection expires a. in the case of computer programs, 50 years after the death of the last surviving joint author; b. in the case of all other works, 70 years after the death of the last surviving joint author.^{[1992-2023 Art.30(1)]}
• Where the individual contributions may be separated, protection for each contribution expires 50 or 70 years respectively after the death of the respective author.^{[1992-2023 Art.30(2)]}
• In the case of films and other audio-visual works, the calculation of the term of protection is based solely on the date of the death of the director.^{[1992-2023 Art.30(3)]}
• [The three aforementioned provisions] do not apply to photographic depictions and depictions of three-dimensional objects produced by a process similar to that of photography if the depictions do not have individual character.^{[1992-2023 Art.29(3)]}
• In the case of films and other audio-visual works, the calculation of the term of protection is based solely on the date of the death of the director.^{[1992-2023 Art.30(3)]}
• Where the author of a work is unknown, protection for that work expires 70 years after it has been published or, if it has been published in instalments, 70 years after the final instalment.^{[1992-2023 Art.31(1)]}
• If the identity of the person who has created the work becomes publicly known before the expiry of the aforementioned term, protection for the work expires: a. in the case of computer programs, 50 years after the death of the author; b. in the case of all other works, 70 years after the death of the author.^{[1992-2023 Art.31(2)]}
• The term of protection is calculated from 31 December of the year in which the event determining the calculation occurred.^{[1992-2023 Art.32]}

The increase of the protection term from 50 to 70 years occurred in 1993 and was not retroactive, but since the change was more than 20 years ago, no works are in the public domain under the life+50 term that would not also be in the public domain under the current life+70 rule. However, this can be relevant with regard to URAA-restored copyrights in the US, as the protection of many works was already expired applying the 50 years term and protection was not restored for these works in 1993, as confirmed by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in its "Sternheim" decision in 1998. For example, Swiss aviation pioneer and photographer Walter Mittelholzer died in 1937. His works went into the public domain in Switzerland 50 years after his death on January 1, 1988. As the 1993 extension to 70 years did not restore already expired copyrights, Mittelholzer's photographs were still in the public domain in Switzerland on the URAA date of 1 January 1996, and therefore outside the scope of URAA copyright restorations.

Not protected

Copyright does not protect: acts, ordinances, international treaties and other official enactments; means of payment; decisions, minutes and reports issued by authorities and public administrations; patent specifications and published patent applications. Copyright also does not protect official or legally required collections and translations of the [aforementioned] works [...].^{[1992-2023 Art.5]}

To be eligible for copyright in the first place, works must be "literary and artistic intellectual creations with individual character, irrespective of their value or purpose".^{[1992-2023 Art.2]} Exceptionally, photographs of three-dimensional objects are protected as works even in the absence of individuality (see Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Switzerland#TOO for details).

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Switzerland-official}} – for Swiss official documents, currency or patents. See template for details.
  • {{PD-Coa-Switzerland}} – for coat of arms of a Swiss Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (corporation governed by public law).
• {{Attribution-Swisstopo}} — for files from the website of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, including map.geo.admin.ch.
• {{PD-Switzerland-old-70}} public domain because the author(s) died more than 70 years ago.
• {{PD-Switzerland-old-unknown}} for works published anonymously at least 70 years ago.
• {{PD-Switzerland-photo-non-individual-50-years}} for photographs created in Switzerland more than 50 years ago that do not have the individual character that is required by law for copyright protection; see template for details. The template should only be used if no other license is possible.
• {{PD-Switzerland-photo}} – Legacy template for photographs first published in Switzerland that do not have the individual character that is required by law for copyright protection. Only applicable for existing use on Commons and for Wikimedia projects that started before April 1, 2020; see template for details. Do not use this template for new uploads.

In Switzerland copyright protection expires 70 years after the death of the author with the exception of computer programs, the protection of which ends 50 years after the death of the author.

Currency

OK. Currency is not covered by copyright in Switzerland. Article 5(1)(b) of the Swiss copyright law from 1993 on works not subject to copyright explicitly excludes monetary items from copyright.

Reproduction of banknotes that may be confused with genuine bills is prohibited by article 243 of the Swiss Penal Code. The Swiss National Bank has issued guidelines on how to reproduce banknotes in a way they believe are permissible. Printing "Specimen" across the image and not reproducing the bills at their true size or in their true colors are recommendations.

{{PD-Switzerland-official}} can be used to tag images of Swiss currency.

Freedom of panorama

OK. {{FoP-Switzerland}}

Under Article 27 of the Copyright Act, a work permanently situated in a place accessible to the public may be depicted and the depiction offered, transferred, broadcast or otherwise distributed. The depiction must not be three-dimensional and it must not be possible to use the depiction for the same purpose as the original (in the German text of the Copyright Act: "nicht zum gleichen Zweck wie das Original verwendbar"). It is therefore, for example, not allowed to reproduce copyrighted paintings from a permanent outdoors exhibition and to use them for another exhibition.

Freedom of panorama does not apply to works located in interior spaces.

Accessible to the public

• The place must be accessible to the public on a de facto basis. The legal ownership status of the place is irrelevant to the applicability of the provision.
• The depicted work itself does not have to be accessible to the public. Freedom of panorama also applies to a work on private (not publicly accessible) grounds provided it can be seen with the naked eye from a place accessible to the public.

• The place does not need to be accessible to the public all the time. If a park is closed during night hours, it may still be “accessible to the public” within the meaning of Article 27 provided the other criteria are met.
• Following the majority view in the legal literature, if the place is only accessible to certain categories of persons, such as pupils and high school staff, it is no longer “accessible to the public”. Commentators do not agree whether charging entrance fees also makes the place "not public" and therefore not subject to Article 27.
• Following the majority view in the legal literature, freedom of panorama does not apply to interior spaces. Hence Article 27 cannot be invoked for depictions produced in the staircase or the rooms of a building. It is recognized in the literature that in some cases it can be difficult to determine what constitutes an “interior space”. Part of the literature suggests a differentiation of interior spaces from interior courtyards, with only the latter fulfilling the requirements of Article 27. However, definition problems remain, for instance, in the case of station halls or shopping arcades which, consequently, are assessed differently by commentators. It is generally held that the interior of a church cannot be depicted under Article 27.
• Commons opinion is that stained glass windows should be considered part of interior spaces.

Permanently situated

• A work is not “permanently situated” within the meaning of the law if it is only visible by accident (e.g. whilst being transported).
• It is controversial what is required to fulfill the feature “permanently situated”. According to one widespread view, this requires that the (objective) intent of the copyright holder is to indefinitely present the work in/at a publicly-accessible place.A minority view holds that freedom of panorama can also apply to a work such as a sculpture otherwise located inside a museum that is accessible to the public as part of a temporary exhibition. Whether Christo’s “wrapped works” can be depicted under Art. 27 is controversial. Posters in public are not considered “permanently situated” by the literature.
• Works whose lifetime is restricted by natural conditions, such as ice sculptures or chalk paintings on streets, are nevertheless considered permanent.

General

• Applicability to all works: Article 27 applies to all categories of protected works.
• Modifications: Modifications of the work are not allowed (Art. 10 URG). Article 11 prohibits the distortion of the work. However, modifications required due to the reproduction method used are generally considered permitted.

Stamps

According to Article 5 of the Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights, "copyright does not protect [...] means of payment". However, the prevailing view among legal commentators is that stamps are not considered means of payment and do not fall under any other exemption clause. They therefore enjoy copyright protection.

Threshold of originality

Swiss copyright law defines works as "literary and artistic intellectual creations with individual character, irrespective of their value or purpose". Such works are protected by copyright: "Up to 70 years after the death of the author (50 years for computer programs); 50 years from the taking of a photograph without individual character; 70 years from the performance/publication of a phonogram or audio-visual fixation; 50 years from the transmission of a broadcast." This section discusses some types of subject matter.

Photographs: Photographs may be protected as works on the basis of their individual character (individual photographs). Some photographs that lack individual character may also enjoy protection (non-individual photographs).

• Individual photographs: The individual character may manifest itself in a variety of ways, such as the choice of the depicted object, the decision on when the picture is taken, or the editing work done after the picture has been taken. In a 2003 decision, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland held that a photo of Bob Marley taken at a concert by a spectator with a handheld camera was eligible for protection as a photographic work because it had the required individual character by virtue of the aesthetic appeal of the picture, combined with the orientation of the picture's components and the distribution of light and shadow. It also found that the photograph was a "creation of the mind" by being shot at a specific time during the singer's movement on the stage. By contrast, in the 2004 case Blau Guggenheim v. British Broadcasting Corporation, the Court found that a photo (en:File:Christoph Meili 1997-nonfree.jpg), shot by a reporter to document Christoph Meili with the files he had taken from his employer, lacked individual character. It found that the scope of conceptual and technical possibilities was not exploited, and that the photograph did not distinguish itself in any way from what was common use. The copyright in an individual photograph lasts for 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author died.

• Non-individual photographs: Effective 1 April 2020, Swiss law also protects certain non-individual photographs. Article 2(3^bis) URG provides that "photographic depictions and depictions of three-dimensional objects produced by a process similar to that of photography are considered works, even if they do not have individual character". While no individuality is required, according to the official motives accompanying the (eventually adopted) revision draft, these photographs are still required to be "based on human actions", and thus "automatically created photographs such as radar pictures, pictures from surveillance cameras or camera traps" are ineligible for protection. It should be noted that the new right also applies to photographs created before 1 April 2020 that had previously not been protected for failing the individuality test; however, if a particular use of a non-individual photograph was "begun prior to the commencement" of the new law, it "may be completed". According to the official motives, this has the effect that "if non-individual photographs are used on a web page, the web page may be maintained after the entry into force of the protection of non-individual photographs. If, on the other hand, such photographs are included into an existing or a new web page after the entry into force of this protection, permission is required from the owner of the rights in the non-individual photographs." The copyright in a non-individual photograph lasts for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the photo was taken.

Data published by the Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo

Shortcut

• COM:SWISSTOPO

OK. {{Attribution-Swisstopo}}

Since March 1, 2021, the data publicly accessible on the website of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo is freely usable, also commercially, but requires attribution to Swisstopo.

On April 3, 2020 the Federal Council amended the Geoinformation Ordinance of May 21, 2008 with effect on March 1, 2021. According to the new article 28a of the Geoinformation Ordinance, the authorization to use Swisstopo data is deemed to have been given if it publishes such data in a freely-accessible manner, as open government data. On March 1, 2021, Swisstopo did so, by publishing its data "free of charge and for open access use", within the framework of "Open Government Data". According to the Swisstopo FAQ:

• May the data obtained be published and used commercially? Yes. The aim is the widest and most versatile usage of the available data.
• Do fees have to be paid for the use of swisstopo geodata? No, no fees must be paid. The digital standard products are provided free of charge to everyone as a public service.
• Is authorisation necessary to use swisstopo geodata? No, no authorisation is required. However, the source must be indicated upon use as “Source: Federal Office of Topography swisstopo” or “© swisstopo”.
• Must the source be indicated when using swisstopo geodata? Yes. The Terms and Conditions provide free use for all purposes. However, they oblige the user to indicate the source as “Source: Federal Office of Topography swisstopo” or “© swisstopo”.

See also

• Switzerland
• w:Swiss copyright law
• Category:License tags of Switzerland
• Category:Swiss FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of Switzerland

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Text transcluded from
COM:Syria

Syria

Copyright rules: Syria Shortcut: COM:SYRIA
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 50 years
Applied art	Create + 25 years
Other
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Syria}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SYR
Treaties
Berne convention	11 June 2004
URAA restoration date‌*	11 June 2004
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Syria relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Syria must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Syria and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Syria, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Syria was subject to the Ottoman Empire until World War I. It then came under the control of France, which obtained a League of Nation mandate in 1920. The country gained full independence in April 1946.

Syria has been a member of the Berne Convention since 11 June 2004.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights (issued by Legislative Decree No. 62/2013) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Syria. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. It repealed the Law No. 12/2001 on Copyright. Law No. 12/2001 was Syria's first copyright law. An Arabic version of the 2013 law is provided by the General Authority for Radio and TV.

General rules

Under the former Law No. 12/2001,

• The author was entitled to his copyrights for his lifetime and fifty years thereafter. If the work is a combined effort of more than one author, then the copyrights were entitled for the lifetime and fifty years after the death of the last author party of the work.^{[12/2001 Art. 22]}
• Work published without mention of the author or with the mention of a pseudonym were entitled to copyrights for 50 years from the date of the first legitimate publication, as long as the author's identity was not revealed in this period.^{[12/2001 Art. 23]}
• Protection of audiovisual, broadcast, televised or cinematography work was enforceable for 50 years as of the date of producing the work. If the work was offered to the public with the author's consent during such period, protection was enforced for 50 years from such later date.^{[12/2001 Art. 24]}
• Copyrights of photographic, fine arts or plastic arts were enforceable for 10 years from the date of producing such work.^{[12/2001 Art. 25]}

Under Legislative Decree No. 62/2013,

• The financial rights of the author are protected throughout his life and for 50 years after the end of the year of his death, unless provided otherwise.^{[62/2013 Art. 19]}
• The financial rights of authors of joint works are protected for the rest of their lives and for 50 years after the end of the year of death of the last surviving person unless the law provides otherwise.^{[62/2013 Art. 20]}
• Audiovisual works and collective works are protected for 50 years from the first calendar year following their publication for the first time.^{[62/2013 Art. 21(a)]} In case of non-publication within 50 years from the date of completion of the work, the period is calculated from the first calendar year following the date of the completion of the work.^{[62/2013 Art. 21(b)]}
• Works published without mentioning the name of the author or a pseudonym are protected for 50 years from the date of their publication for the first time, unless the identity of the author becomes known in this period.^{[62/2013 Art. 22]}
• Works of applied arts are protected for 25 years from the first calendar year following the year in which the work was completed.^{[62/2013 Art. 23]}
• Database works are protected for a period of 15 years from the first calendar year following the year in which the work was completed.^{[62/2013 Art. 23B]}

In order to be hosted on Commons, all works must be in the public domain in the United States as well as in their source country. Syrian works are currently in the public domain in the United States if their copyright had expired in Syria on the URAA date of restoration (June 11, 2004) and the work was published before this date.

Not protected

Under Legislative Decree No. 62/2013, there is no protection for^{[62/2013 Art. 4]}:

• Ideas, procedures, methods of work, mathematical concepts, principles, abstract facts, discoveries and data, but protection applies to the innovative expression of any of them.
• Heavenly books except their designs and style of writing and recordings of recitations.
• Laws, regulations, judicial decisions, arbitral tribunal rules, international agreements, administrative decisions and other official documents and official translations thereof.
• News and other events that are characterized as mere press information.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Syria}} – Under the 2001 law, photographic work was protected for 10 years starting from the production date. As Syria Joined Berne Convention on November 2004, photographic works produced starting from 1994 should be protected for 25 years starting from the production date (minimum protection period set by Berne Convention). Under the 2013 law, protection is for the author's life + 50 years. Photographic work produced before 1994 is public domain.

Currency

 Not OK. Syrian banknotes and coins are likely to be protected by copyright. The 2001 copyright law of Syria does not explicitly exempt the designs of banknotes and coins, only official documents and administrative decisions. In 2013, Syrian copyright law was substantially changed with the repeal of the 2001 copyright law. However, there does not appear to be any changes to the protection of banknotes or coins.^{[62/2013 Art. 4]}

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK, {{NoFoP-Syria}}. Legislative Decree No. 62/2013 only allows broadcasting of images of works in public places.

• Without the permission of the author and without making any compensation, the author may transfer works of fine arts or applied works, or plastic or architectural works to the public through the materials of the broadcasting stations if such works are permanently present in public places.^{[62/2013 Art. 39]}

See also

• Category:Syrian FOP cases

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer

Copyright rules by territory

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R Sa-Sl So-Sy T U V W X Y Z