Commons:Unprotected works/Europe

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This page gives overviews of rules for unprotected works in different countries or territories of Europe. These are works that by their nature do not qualify for copyright protection. The rules are "transcluded" from individual page sections giving the rules for each territory.

Countries of Europe[edit]

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COM:NOP Albania

Albania

Under Law No. 35/2016 of March 31, 2016, on Copyright and Related Rights, the following are not protected by copyright: a. ideas, theories, concepts, discoveries and inventions of creative work, regardless of the method of interpretation, justification or expression; b. discoveries, official texts in the domain of legislation, administrative and judiciary and other official works and their collections, disclosed for the purpose of officially informing the public; c. official state symbols, symbols of organizations and public authorities, such as: the arms, the seal, the flag, the emblem, the medallion, the hallmark, the medal; ç. means of payment; d. news of the day and other news, having the character of mere items of press information; dh. Simple data and facts.[35/2016 Article 12.1]

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COM:NOP Andorra

Andorra

  • Copyright protection shall extend to expressions and not 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.[1999 Art. 4(1)]
  • No protection shall extend under this law to any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof.[1999 Art. 4(2)]
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COM:NOP Armenia

Armenia

  • The following works not subject to copyright: a) works of folklore and folk art; b) information about the news of the day or current events and facts; c) official documents - legal acts, contracts and their official translations; d) state symbols and signs (flags, emblems, orders, bank notes and so on); e) political speeches, speeches made during the trial; f) results obtained by technical means without human creative activity.[2013 Article 4.1]
  • Copyright does not apply to scientific discoveries, ideas, principles, methods, procedures, concepts, systems, processes, scientific theories, mathematical formulas, statistical diagrams, rules of the game, even if they are expressed, described, disclosed, covered in works.[2013 Article 4.2]
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COM:NOP Austria

Austria

Under the Federal Law on Copyright 1936 as amended up to 2018,

  • Laws, regulations, official decrees, official notices and decisions and official works as defined in §2Z items 1 or 3, solely or mainly produced for official use. shall not enjoy copyright protection.[1936-2018 Art.7(1)]
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COM:NOP Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

The following items are not objects of copyright:

  • Official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative or judicial character) and their official translations;
  • State emblems and official signs (flags, arms, anthems, orders, monetary signs and other State symbols and official signs);
  • Folk creativity (folklore) expressions ;
  • News of day, data about various events and the facts of information character.[636-IVQD/2013 Article 7]
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COM:NOP Belarus

Belarus

According to the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 262-Z of May 17, 2011,

  • The following are not deemed objects of copyright: official documents (legal acts, court decisions, other administrative and court documents, constituent documents of legal entities) and their official translations; State symbols of the Republic of Belarus (State Flag of the Republic of Belarus, State Emblem of the Republic of Belarus, State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus), symbols of state decorations of the Republic of Belarus (orders and medals), state signs (paper currency of the Republic of Belarus, post stamps and other signs), official heraldry symbols (flags, emblems of administration divisions of the Republic of Belarus, heraldry signs, colours, badges, emblems of state authorities etc.); works of folk art which authors are unknown.[262-Z/2011 Art.7(2)]
  • Copyright shall not cover ideas, methods, processes, systems, ways, conceptions, principles, discoveries, facts even if they are expressed, presented, explained or implemented in works.[262-Z/2011 Art.7(2)]
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COM:NOP Belgium

Belgium

No information available

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COM:NOP Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

There is no copyright protection for: ideas, concepts, procedures, work methods, mathematical operations; official texts in the domain of legislation, administration and judiciary (laws, regulations, decisions, reports, minutes, judgments and alike); political speeches and speeches made at court hearings; daily news or miscellaneous information having the character of mere items of press information; folk literary and artistic creations.[2010 Article 8]

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COM:NOP Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The following are not considered subject matter of copyright:[2023 Article 4]

  1. normative and individual acts of state administration bodies, acts of courts, as well as their official translations;
  2. ideas and concepts;
  3. works of folklore;
  4. news, facts, information and data.
  5. materials obtained by reproduction of works referred to in Art. 5 - 10 with an expired term of copyright.

In particular, this applies to various documents, e.g. certificates, issued by units of the Bulgarian armed forces, including historical ones, like the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps (MAVC). In these cases it is advisable to use appropriate “author” templates if such exist, e.g. {{Author-MAVC}} for MAVC.

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COM:NOP Croatia

Croatia

Based on the Copyright and Related Rights Act amended up to 127/2014,

  • The subject matter of copyright shall include expressions and not ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such.[127/2014 Article 8(1)]
  • The subject matter of copyright shall not include:
    • discoveries, official texts in the domain of legislation, administration, judiciary (acts, regulations, decisions, reports, minutes, judgments, standards, and the like) and other official works and their collections, disclosed for the purpose of officially informing the public;[127/2014 Article 8(2.1)]
    • news of the day and other news, having the character of mere items of press information;[127/2014 Article 8(2.2)]
  • Folk literary and artistic creations in their original form shall not be the subject matter of copyright, but their communication to the public is subject to the payment of remuneration, as for the communication to the public of protected copyright works. The remuneration shall be the revenue of the budget, and shall be used for improving the creativity in the field concerned.[127/2014 Article 8(3)]
  • Translations of official texts in the domain of legislation, administration and judiciary, shall be protected, unless made for the purpose of officially informing the public and are disclosed as such.[127/2014 Article 6(2)]
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COM:NOP Cyprus

Cyprus

No information available

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COM:NOP Czech Republic

Czech Republic

Under the Consolidated Version of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. as amended up to 216/2006, copyright protection shall not apply to:

  • An official work, such as a legal regulation, decision, public charter, publicly accessible register and collection of its documents, and also any official draft of an official work and other preparatory official documentation including the official translation of such work, Chamber of Deputies and Senate publications, a memorial chronicle of a municipality (municipal chronicles), a state symbol and symbol of a municipality, and any other such works where there is public interest in their exclusion from copyright protection.[121/2000–2006 Art.3(a)]
  • Creations of traditional folk culture, unless the real name of the author is commonly known and the works are anonymous or pseudonymous; such works may only be used in a way that shall not detract from their value.[121/2000–2006 Art.3(b)]
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COM:NOP Denmark

Denmark

Under the Consolidated Act No. 1144 of 23 October 2014: Acts, administrative orders, legal decisions and similar official documents are not subject to copyright. This does not apply to works appearing as independent contributions in these documents, but such works may be reproduced in connection with the documents.[1144/2014 Art.9]

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COM:NOP Estonia

Estonia

Under the Copyright Act of 11 November 1992 (consolidated text of February 1, 2017), copyright does not apply to ideas, images, notions, theories, processes, systems, methods, concepts, principles, discoveries, inventions, and other results of intellectual activities which are described, explained or expressed in any other manner in a work; works of folklore; legislation and administrative documents (acts, decrees, regulations, statutes, instructions, directives) and official translations thereof; court decisions and official translations thereof; official symbols of the state and insignia of organisations (flags, coats of arms, orders, medals, badges, etc.); news of the day; facts and data; ideas and principles which underlie any element of a computer program, including those which underlie its user interfaces.[1992/2017 §5]

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COM:NOP Finland

Finland

Under the Copyright Act 404/1961, with amendments up to 608/2015, there shall be no copyright:[404/1961–2015 Sec.9(1)]

  • In laws and decrees;
  • In resolutions, stipulations and other documents which are published under the Act on the Statutes of Finland (188/2000) and the Act on the Regulations of Ministries and other Government Authorities (189/2000);
  • Treaties, conventions and other corresponding documents containing international obligations;
  • Decisions and statements issued by public authorities or other public bodies;
  • Translations of documents referred to above made by or commissioned by public authorities or other public bodies.

As of the 2005 revision, copyright protection continues to apply to independent works contained in the documents referred to in the list above.[404/1961–2015 Sec.9(1)] A work that is part of or attached to a decision or something similar is often such that it was not produced specifically as a part of the decision or as an attachment to it. In such a case, it is not reasonable that the attached work should also automatically lose copyright protection. An example is a work of fine art included in currency. This applies to independent works included in both the text of the document and its appendices. These independent works could be reproduced in connection with the document in question and used separately from the document for the purpose to which the document is related, but due to these restrictions the document or the protected independent work it contains cannot be uploaded to Commons.[1]

The textual, and in many cases the graphical, representations of Finnish coat of arms of municipalities, regions and provinces are considered to be part of decisions of public bodies and therefore they are not protected by copyright. According to the opinions of the Finnish Copyright Council even the graphical representation is thought (at least in these cases) not to be protected by copyright.[2][3]

Either the graphical representations were part of the decisions of the municipalities (whether they could be considered works of art was thought to be irrelevant), or the alterations made did not meet the requirements for an original work of art. The coats of arms of historical provinces and other historical coats of arms are not protected by copyright: if there has been any copyright, it has expired.

Coats of arms of new entities should be analysed on a case-by-case basis. Usually they are based on old coats of arms and not eligible, but there is no guarantee unless they are included in public decisions. Some unofficial coats of arms, e.g. for former municipalities, which never had official coats of arms, are private creations under copyright, provided they reach the threshold of originality.

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COM:NOP France

France

No information available

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COM:NOP Georgia

Georgia

Under the Copyright Laws as of 2017, "The following shall not be protected by copyright: a) official documents (legislative acts, court decisions, other texts of administrative and regulatory nature), as well as their official translations; b) official state symbols (flags, coats-of-arms, anthems, rewards, banknotes, other state symbols and insignia); c) information about facts and events".[2112-IIS/2017 Article 8]

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COM:NOP Germany

Germany

Under § 5(1) of the 1965 Act on Copyright and Related Rights (Gesetz über Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte) (UrhG), acts, statutory instruments, official decrees and official notices, decisions, and official headnotes of decisions do not enjoy copyright protection.

The fuzziest element within this enumeration is perhaps the fourth, "official notices" (amtliche Bekanntmachungen). According to the Federal Court of Justice, such notices need to have "regulatory substance"—the provision is not intended to render unprotected "merely informatory expressions by an administrative body".[4] More broadly, the Court held that § 5(1) as a whole applies only to works that contain a "normative or individual legal stipulation" (normative oder einzelfallbezogene rechtliche Regelung) for only in this case there is a "sufficient public interest in the distribution to justify the exception from copyright with no strings attached".[5] "Decisions" are decisions by federal or state courts or administrative authorities that, as judgements, court orders, official ordinances, etc, contain legally binding stipulations.[6]

An important question for this project is whether § 5(1) is capable of applying to all types of works. A 2012 decision by the Berlin Regional Court (which has garnered some attention by users of this project as the lawsuit was brought against the Wikimedia Foundation) followed some academic and non-judicial commentators in holding that § 5(1) applies exclusively to literary works (Sprachwerke).[7] This view has been criticised by others who have pointed out that official decrees, decisions, etc may very well contain other types of works and that it would defeat the purpose of § 5(1) if these all had to be removed prior to publication.[8]

The prevailing view is that § 5(1) does not apply to currency (notes and coins),[9] postage stamps,[10] or official coats of arms (although the latter thus far have not nearly received as much academic—let alone judicial—attention).[11] Those who deem § 5(1) applicable to non-literary works mostly agree that the provision applies to land-use plans (Bebauungspläne) pursuant to § 8(1) of the Federal Building Code (Baugesetzbuch), which contain legally binding designations for urban development,[12] as well as to official road signs.[13] Most maps and plans originating in government, however, do not qualify for subsection 1 but either for subsection 2 (see below) or are not considered "official works" at all. According to the Federal Court of Justice, for instance, topographic maps issued by the state offices for survey are not official works under copyright law.[14]

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COM:NOP Greece

Greece

Under Law No. 2121/1993 as amended up to Law No. 4531/2018, there is no copyright protection for official texts expressive of the authority of the State, notably legislative, administrative or judicial texts, nor for expressions of folklore, news information or simple facts and data.[2121/2018 Article 2.5]

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COM:NOP Hungary

Hungary

Under the Act No. LXXVI of 1999, updated to 2019, the following works do not enjoy copyright protection:

  • Laws, other legal instruments of public administration, court or authority decisions, official or other official communications and documents, and standards and other similar provisions made by law.[LXXVI/1999-2019 Art.1(4)]
  • Facts or daily news that are the basis for press releases.[LXXVI/1999-2019 Art.1(5)]
  • An idea, principle, concept, procedure, operating method, or mathematical operation.[LXXVI/1999-2019 Art.1(6)]
  • The expression of folklore. This provision does not affect the copyright protection of the author of an individual, original work inspired by folk art.[LXXVI/1999-2019 Art.1(7)]
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COM:NOP Iceland

Iceland

No information available

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COM:NOP Ireland

Republic of Ireland

No information available

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COM:NOP Italy

Italy

No information available

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COM:NOP Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

The following shall not be copyright objects: 1) official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative,

judicial, and diplomatic nature), and their official translations; 2) state emblems and signs (flags, emblems, decorations, banknotes, and other state symbols and signs); 3) works of folklore; 4) messages about events and facts which are of informational nature.[419/2015 Article 8]

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COM:NOP Latvia

Latvia

Under the Copyright Law of 2000 (as amended up to June 14, 2017), the following are not protected by copyright:

  • laws and regulations and administrative rulings, other documents issued by State and local government institutions and court adjudications (laws, court judgements, decisions and other official documents), as well as official translations of such texts and official consolidated versions;[2000-2017 Sec.6(1)]
  • State approved, as well as internationally recognised official symbols and signs (flags, coats of arms, anthems, and awards), the use of which is subject to specific laws and regulations;[2000-2017 Sec.6(2)]
  • maps, the preparation and use of which are determined by laws and regulations;[2000-2017 Sec.6(3)]
  • information provided in the press, radio or television broadcasts or other information media concerning news of the day and various facts and events;[2000-2017 Sec.6(4)]
  • ideas, methods, processes and mathematical concepts.[2000-2017 Sec.6(5)]
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COM:NOP Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein

Under the 1999 Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, amended 2006, the following are not protected:

a) laws, regulations, international treaties and other official instruments; b) means of payment; c) decisions, records and reports of authorities and public administrations; d) patents, and published patent applications. Also not protected are official or legally required collections and translations of the above works.[1999-2006 Art.5]

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COM:NOP Lithuania

Lithuania

Under Law No. VIII-1185 of 1999, as amended up to Law No. XII-1183 of 2014, the following are not subject to copyright:

  • ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discoveries or mere data;[1999–2014 Art.5.1]
  • legal acts, official documents texts of administrative, legal or regulative nature (decisions, rulings, regulations, norms, territorial planning and other official documents), as well as their official translations;[1999–2014 Art.5.2]
  • official State symbols and insignia (flags, coat-of-arms, anthems, banknote designs, and other State symbols and insignia) the protection of which is regulated by other legal acts;[1999–2014 Art.5.3]
  • officially registered drafts of legal acts;[1999–2014 Art.5.4]
  • regular information reports on events;[1999–2014 Art.5.5]
  • folklore works.[1999–2014 Art.5.6]
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COM:NOP Luxembourg

Luxembourg

No information available

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COM:NOP Malta

Malta

No information available

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COM:NOP Moldova

Moldova

Under Law No. 139 of 2010 as amended in 2016, copyright protection does not extend to:[139/2010-16 Art.8]

  • legal acts, other administrative, political or judicial acts (laws, court decisions), or to the official translations thereof;
  • state emblems and official signs (flags, armorial bearings, decorations, monetary signs, etc.);
  • folklore expressions;
  • daily news and facts of simple informational nature.
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COM:NOP Monaco

Monaco

Laws, ordinances, orders, decisions and administrative, judicial or official publications do not benefit from copyright protection.[491/1948 Art.38]

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COM:NOP Montenegro

Montenegro

Copyright protection does not cover: 1) ideas, principles and discoveries; 2) Official texts in the field of the legislation, administrative and judicial;

3) an official translation of point 2 above; 4) The term traditional culture (hereinafter referred to as works of folklore); 5) daily news or other information having the character of mere items of press information.[53/2016 Art.8]

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COM:NOP Netherlands

Netherlands

Dutch laws and legal judgments are completely free of copyright (Article 11 of Dutch copyright law of 1912).

In principle all works communicated to the public by or on behalf of the public authorities (government) may be freely distributed (this includes modifications and derivatives) in the Netherlands unless the copyright has been reserved explicitly, either in a general manner by law, decree or ordinance, or in a specific case by a notice on the work itself or at the communication to the public. This is regulated in (Article 15b of Dutch copyright law of 1912). Entities like the Silicose Oud-mijnwerkers foundation can also be regarded as public authorities (AbRS 30 November 1995, JB 1995/337). This might imply that their publications are not automatically copyright protected. This arrest does not contain references to the copyright of such organizations and is in addition in general critized by prof. mr. SE Zijlstra in a note to the arrest.

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COM:NOP Северна Македонија

North Macedonia

No information available

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COM:NOP Norway

Norway

Under the Act No. 40 of June 15, 2018,

  • Laws, regulations, judicial decisions and other decisions by public authorities are without protection under this Act. The same applies to proposals, reports, statements and the like that apply to the exercise of public authority, and is issued by a public authority, a publicly appointed council or committee, or published by the public. Similarly, official translations of such texts are without protection under this Act.[2018 §14]
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COM:NOP Poland

Poland

Under the Consolidated 1994 Polish Copyright Law as of 2016, copyright protection does not cover:[1996–2016 Art.4]

  1. normative acts and drafts thereof as well as official documents
  2. official documents, materials, signs and symbols;
  3. published patent or protection descriptions;
  4. simple press information.

However in some instances the use of an image published by the government in Poland might be regulated by other laws. It is being debated if postage stamps and banknotes fall into this category. (See: {{PD-Polishsymbol}})

According to 2016 court decision photographs of maps, documents, medals, memorial plates do not enjoy their own copyrights.[15]

In the judgment of 27 February 2009 (V CSK 337/2008), the Supreme Court of Poland stated: "The official materials referred to in Article 4 §2 of the [Polish] Copyright Law Act should be understood as materials coming from an office or other institution performing public tasks."[16]

Additionally all content published on www.gov.pl is under Creative-Commons Attribution 3.0 license.

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COM:NOP Portugal

Portugal

Under the Code of Copyright and Related Rights (as amended up to Decree-Law No. 100/2017 of August 23, 2017),

  • There is no copyright protection for a) The news of the day and the reports of various events as simple information in any way disclosed; b) Applications, allegations, complaints and other texts submitted in writing or orally before public authorities or services; c) Proposed texts and speeches delivered to assemblies or other collegiate bodies, political, administrative, national, regional or local levels, or in public debates on matters of common interest; d) Political speeches.[100/2017 Art.7(1)]
  • Integral reproduction of speeches, oratory pieces and other texts referred to in sub-paragraphs c) and d) of paragraph 1 may only be made by the author or with his consent.[100/2017 Art.7(2)]
  • The use by a third party of work referred to in paragraph 1, when free, shall be limited to that required by the purpose to be achieved with its disclosure.[100/2017 Art.7(3)]
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COM:NOP Romania

Romania

Under Law No. 8 of March 14, 1996 on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, the following shall not benefit from the legal protection accorded to copyright:[8/1996 Art.9]

(a) ideas, theories, concepts, scientific discoveries, proceedings, functioning methods or mathematical concepts as such and inventions, contained in a work, whatever the manner of the adoption, writing, explanation or expression thereof;
(b) official texts of a political, legislative, administrative or judicial nature, and official translations thereof;
(c) official symbols of the State, public authorities and organizations, such as armorial bearings, seals, flags, emblems, shields, badges and medals;
(d) means of payment;
(e) news and press information;
(f) simple facts and data.

Also, the photographs of letters, deeds, documents of any kind, technical drawings and other similar papers do not benefit from protection.[8/1996 Art.85(2)]

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COM:NOP Russia

Russia

No information available

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COM:NOP San Marino

San Marino

No information available

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COM:NOP Serbia

Serbia

According to the 2009 Copyright Law of Serbia,

  • The protection of copyright shall not apply to general ideas, procedures and methods of operations or mathematical concepts as such, as well as concepts, principles and instructions included in a work of authorship.[104/2009 Art.6(1)]
  • The following shall not be deemed works of authorship: 1) Laws, decrees and other regulations; 2) Official materials of state bodies and bodies performing public functions; 3) Official translations of regulations and official materials of state bodies and bodies performing public functions; 4) Submissions and other documents presented in the administrative or court proceedings.[104/2009 Art.6(2)]
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COM:NOP Slovakia

Slovakia

The following are not subject to copyright:[125/2016 Section 5]

  • Text of legislation, a decision of public authority or a court decision, technical standard, including draft materials and translations thereof
  • Land-use planning documents
  • State symbol, municipality symbol, symbol of self-governing region; this does not apply to a work which formed the basis for creating of such symbol,
  • Speech presented in discussions on public affairs
  • Daily news: information on events or circumstances. A work discussing daily news is not considered daily news
  • Work of traditional folk culture
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COM:NOP Slovenia

Slovenia

Under the Consolidated Copyright Act as of 2016,

  • There is no copyright protection for 1. ideas, principles, discoveries; 2. official texts of a legislative, administrative and judicial nature; 3. folk literary and artistic creations.[12/2016 Art.9(1)]
    According to a 2010 book, this also encompasses the national coat of arms, the municipal coats of arms, the anthem, urban planning maps, drawings of traffic signs, sketches and plans from the patent file after the official publication of the patent, and other similar material published due to a state jurisdiction as part of the official text, its annex or independently.[17]
  • Translations of texts mentioned hereby should enjoy copyright protection, unless they are published as official texts.[12/2016 Art.9(2)]
  • Certain photographs that are not an "individual intellectual creation of the photographer" are not protected. Trampuž specifically cites the following types of images:
    • automated routine photographs; specifically listed: photographic automates, traffic safety images, images taken as part of the technical protection of objects, meteorological and satellite photographs
    • routine photographs for documents
    • average amateur photographs
    • routine press photographs
These, however, can often become an author's work, which is judged from case to case.[18]

In numerous actual cases, they have also been recognised as copyrighted.[19]

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COM:NOP Spain

Spain

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]

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COM:NOP Sweden

Sweden

No information available

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COM:NOP Switzerland

Switzerland

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).

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COM:NOP Türkiye

Turkey

The reproduction, distribution, adaptation or exploitation in any other form of laws, by­laws, regulations, notifications, circulars and court decisions that have been officially published or announced is permitted.[5846/1951 Article 31]

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COM:NOP Ukraine

Ukraine

Under Law No. 3792-XII of December 23, 1993 (as amended up to April 26, 2017), protection does not extend to:[3792-XII/199-2017 Art.10]

  • Daily news or current events that constitute regular press information
  • Works of folk art (folklore);
  • Official documents issued by government authorities of a political, legislative or administrative nature (laws, decrees, regulations, court decisions and state standards, etc.) and their official translations;
  • State symbols of Ukraine, government awards; symbols and signs of government, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations; symbols of territorial communities; symbols and signs of enterprises, institutions and organizations;
  • Banknotes;
  • Timetables of vehicles, broadcasts, schedules, telephone directories and other similar databases that do not meet the originality criteria.

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COM:NOP United Kingdom

United Kingdom

No information available

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COM:NOP Vatican City

Vatican City

No information available

Specific status[edit]

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COM:NOP Akrotiri and Dhekelia

Akrotiri and Dhekelia

No information available

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COM:NOP Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

No information available

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COM:NOP Gibraltar

Gibraltar

No information available

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COM:NOP Bailiwick of Guernsey

Bailiwick of Guernsey

No information available

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COM:NOP Isle of Man

Isle of Man

No information available

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COM:NOP Jersey

Jersey

No information available

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COM:NOP Svalbard

Template:Svalbard

Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Svalbard

Limited recognition[edit]

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COM:NOP Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Under the 2006 Law on Copyright and Related Rights the following are not objects of copyright[2006 Art.8]:

  • official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative and judicial nature), as well as their official translations;
  • state symbols and signs (flags, emblems, orders, bank notes and other state symbols and signs);
  • works of folk art;
  • messages about events and facts of informational nature.
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COM:NOP Kosovo

Kosovo

The following works do not have copyright protection and are thus in the public domain[2004/45 Art.12]:

  • Ideas, principles, instructions, procedures, discoveries and mathematical concepts per se.
  • Official laws, rules and other regulations.
  • Official material and publications of parliamentary, governmental and other organizations with powers of public office.
  • Official translations of regulations and other official materials, as well as international agreements and other instruments.
  • Applications and other acts in administrative and court procedures.
  • Official materials published for the information of the public.
  • Expressions of folklore.
  • News of the day and various information which have the character of usual press reports.
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COM:NOP South Ossetia

South Ossetia

No information available

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COM:NOP Transnistria

Transnistria

No information available

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COM:NOP Northern Cyprus

Northern Cyprus

No information available

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COM:NOP United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus

United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus

No information available

partly located in Europe[edit]

Not protected
Africa‌Americas‌Asia‌Europe‌Oceania‌Others
Some citation text may not have been transcluded
  1. ↑ “Tekijänoikeus lakeihin, asetuksiin ym. (9 §)”, in Hallituksen esitys Eduskunnalle laeiksi tekijänoikeuslain ja rikoslain 49 luvun muuttamisesta[1] (in fi), 2004, page 50–51
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Minedu99711
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Minedu19985
  4. ↑ Bundesgerichtshof 20 July 2006, case I ZR 185/03 Bodenrichtwertsammlung, (2007) 109 GRUR 137 [13].
  5. ↑ Bundesgerichtshof 20 July 2006, case I ZR 185/03 Bodenrichtwertsammlung, (2007) 109 GRUR 137 [14].
  6. ↑ P Katzenberger and A Metzger, "§ 5" in U Loewenheim, M Leistner, and A Ohly (eds), Schricker/Loewenheim: Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2020) para 46; C Arnold, Amtliche Werke im Urheberrecht: Zur Verfassungsmäßigkeit und analogen Anwendbarkeit des § 5 UrhG (Nomos 1994) 94; MCG Marquardt, "§ 5" in A-A Wandtke and W Bullinger (eds), Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2022) para 12.
  7. ↑ Landgericht Berlin 27 March 2012, case 15 O 377/11 Loriot-Briefmarken, (2012) 16 ZUM-RD 399, 402. In the same vein: T Dreier, "§ 5" in T Dreier and G Schulze (eds), Urheberrechtsgesetz (7th edn, Beck 2022) para 4 ("written works"); H Ahlberg, "§ 5" in H Ahlberg and K Nicolini (eds), Möhring/Nicolini: Urheberrechtsgesetz (2nd edn, Vahlen 2000) para 10.
  8. ↑ JB Nordemann, "§ 5" in A Nordemann, JB Nordemann, and C Czychowski (eds), Fromm/Nordemann: Urheberrecht (12th edn, Kohlhammer 2018) para 10. See also P Katzenberger and A Metzger, "§ 5" in U Loewenheim, M Leistner, and A Ohly (eds), Schricker/Loewenheim: Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2020) para 68 (subsection 1 applicable to official road signs as they are part of a law). Cf C Arnold, Amtliche Werke im Urheberrecht: Zur Verfassungsmäßigkeit und analogen Anwendbarkeit des § 5 UrhG (Nomos 1994) 104 (subsection 1 limited to "texts", which also includes at least illustrations of a scientific or technical nature).
  9. ↑ On those, see COM:CUR Germany.
  10. ↑ Landgericht Berlin 27 March 2012, case 15 O 377/11 Loriot-Briefmarken, (2012) 16 ZUM-RD 399, 402; H Ahlberg, "§ 5" in H Ahlberg and K Nicolini (eds), Möhring/Nicolini: Urheberrechtsgesetz (2nd edn, Vahlen 2000) para 14; P Katzenberger and A Metzger, "§ 5" in U Loewenheim, M Leistner, and A Ohly (eds), Schricker/Loewenheim: Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2020) para 68; EI Obergfell, "§ 5" in W Büscher, S Dittmer, and P Schiwy (eds), Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz, Urheberrecht, Medienrecht (3rd edn, Heymann 2015) para 19; G Dreyer, "§ 5" in G Dreyer and others (eds), Heidelberger Kommentar Urheberrecht (4th edn, CF Müller 2018) para 20; H-P Götting and U Loewenheim, "§ 31" in U Loewenheim (ed), Handbuch des Urheberrechts (3rd edn, Beck 2021) para 10; D Leuze, Urheberrechte der Beschäftigten im öffentlichen Dienst (3rd edn, Erich Schmidt 2008) 40; D Dünnwald, Der Urheber im öffentlichen Dienst (Nomos 1999) 133; H Schack, Urheber- und Urhebervertragsrecht (10th edn, Mohr Siebeck 2021) para 632; H Schack, Kunst und Recht (3rd edn, Mohr Siebeck 2017) para 276; M von Albrecht, Amtliche Werke und Schranken des Urheberrechts zu amtlichen Zwecken in fünfzehn europäischen Ländern (VVF 1992) 52; G Schricker, "Zum Urheberrechtsschutz und Geschmacksmusterschutz von Postwertzeichen – Teil II" (1991) 93 GRUR 645, 647ff; P Katzenberger, "Die Frage des urheberrechtlichen Schutzes amtlicher Werke" (1972) 74 GRUR 686, 694. Note that for those who believe that § 5(1) is incapable of applying to non-literary works to begin with (see above for references), this is a simple corollary. Contra Landgericht München 10 March 1987, case 21 S 20861/86, (1987) 89 GRUR 436, 436f (stating that "the postage stamp has lost the copyright protection it enjoyed during the drafting stage when it was included in the Official Journal of the Minister of Post and Telecommunications"); A Peukert, Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (19th edn, Beck 2023) § 25, para 12 (stating that privately created works can also constitute official works, giving the example of "officially announced stamps"); J von Ungern-Sternberg, "Werke privater Urheber als amtliche Werke" (1977) 79 GRUR 766, 768 (because "postage stamps of the Bundespost are announced with pictures some time prior to their issuance in the Official Journal of the Minister of Post and Telecommunications" and are therefore in the public domain as part of an official notice).
  11. ↑ H Ahlberg, "§ 5" in H Ahlberg and K Nicolini (eds), Möhring/Nicolini: Urheberrechtsgesetz (2nd edn, Vahlen 2000) para 14; P Katzenberger and A Metzger, "§ 5" in U Loewenheim, M Leistner, and A Ohly (eds), Schricker/Loewenheim: Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2020) para 68; D Dünnwald, Der Urheber im öffentlichen Dienst (Nomos 1999) 133. J von Ungern-Sternberg ("Werke privater Urheber als amtliche Werke" (1977) 79 GRUR 766, 768) seems to consider coats of arms official works pursuant to § 5(2) rather than § 5(1). Again, for those who believe that § 5(1) is incapable of applying to non-literary works to begin with (see above for references), this is a simple corollary.
  12. ↑ JB Nordemann, "§ 5" in A Nordemann, JB Nordemann, and C Czychowski (eds), Fromm/Nordemann: Urheberrecht (12th edn, Kohlhammer 2018) para 15; MCG Marquardt, "§ 5" in A-A Wandtke and W Bullinger (eds), Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2022) para 7; EI Obergfell, "§ 5" in W Büscher, S Dittmer, and P Schiwy (eds), Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz, Urheberrecht, Medienrecht (3rd edn, Heymann 2015) para 8; P Katzenberger and A Metzger, "§ 5" in U Loewenheim, M Leistner, and A Ohly (eds), Schricker/Loewenheim: Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2020) paras 68f.
  13. ↑ MCG Marquardt, "§ 5" in A-A Wandtke and W Bullinger (eds), Praxiskommentar zum Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2022) para 7; P Katzenberger and A Metzger, "§ 5" in U Loewenheim, M Leistner, and A Ohly (eds), Schricker/Loewenheim: Urheberrecht (6th edn, Beck 2020) para 68; T Dreier, "§ 5" in T Dreier and G Schulze (eds), Urheberrechtsgesetz (7th edn, Beck 2022) para 8. Contra EI Obergfell, "§ 5" in W Büscher, S Dittmer, and P Schiwy (eds), Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz, Urheberrecht, Medienrecht (3rd edn, Heymann 2015) para 8 (who argues that they fall under subsection 2).
  14. ↑ Bundesgerichtshof 2 July 1987, case I ZR 232/85 Topographische Landeskarten, (1988) 41 NJW 337, 338f.
  15. ↑ SA: nie każde zdjęcie podlega ochronie, 30 January 2017
  16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Scourt2013
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Bogatajetal2010
  18. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Trampuž1997
  19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Semlič2002
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