Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Saint Lucia

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This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Saint Lucia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Saint Lucia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Saint Lucia 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 Saint Lucia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The French colonized Saint Lucia in 1663. The British and French alternately ruled the island until the British took over in 1814. It was part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. Saint Lucia became independent on 22 February 1979.

Saint Lucia has been a member of the Berne Convention since 24 August 1993, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO treaty since 6 March 2002.[1]

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act, 1995 (Act No. 10 of 1995) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Saint Lucia.[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[2] The act was modified by the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act No. 7 of 2000).[1] The amendments provided for the registration of collective societies, protected the moral rights of performers, extended the range of civil remedies and made other changes, but did not change the definitions of protected works or durations of protection.[3]

General rules

According to the Copyright Act 1995 (Act No. 10 of 1995),

  • Subject to the provisions of this section, copyright in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work expires at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.[10/1995 Section 10(1)]
  • Where the authorship of a work referred to in subsection (1) is unknown, copyright in such work expires at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was first made available to the public.[10/1995 Section 10(2)]
  • The provisions of subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to a computer-generated work, the copyright in which shall expire at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work is made.[10/1995 Section 10(4)]
  • For a work of joint ownership the duration is based on the year in which the last surviving known author dies.[10/1995 Section 10(5)]
  • Copyright in a sound recording or film expires at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was made, or where it is made available to the public before the end of that period, at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it is so made available.[10/1995 Section 11(1)]

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK. For 2D copies of 3D works. According to the Copyright Act 1995 (Act No. 10 of 1995),

  • This section applies to (a) buildings; (b) sculptures, models of buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship, if permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public.[10/1995 Section 81(1)]
  • The copyright in such a work is not infringed by (a) making a graphic work representing it; (b) making a photograph or film of it; or (c) broadcasting or including in a cable programme service a visual image of it.[10/1995 Section 81(2)]
  • The copyright in such a work is not infringed by the issue to the public of copies, or the broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service, of anything whose making was, by virtue of this section, not an infringement of copyright.[10/1995 Section 81(3)]

Citations

  1. a b c Saint Lucia Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights)[1], WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization, 2018
  2. Copyright Act, 1995 (Act No. 10 of 1995)[2], Saint Lucia, 1995
  3. Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Act No. 7 of 2000)[3], Saint Lucia, 2000
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