Wikipedia:Copyright situations by country

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following list gives the current copyright situation in various countries, briefly describing which works are considered in the public domain in each country. This is useful for determining whether a work can be freely used in Wikipedia or not. Please see Wikipedia:Public domain for more information on the "public domain".

Keep in mind that any work first published before 1923 is considered in the public domain in the United States, regardless of the work's copyright status in its country of origin. Also, note that countries may change their copyright laws at any time, and these laws may or may not be retroactive to works previously in the public domain. Some countries may follow the rule of the shorter term for foreign works (notably the EU and Japan); other may not (e.g. the U.S.). And in general, a work may be in the public domain in one country but still be copyrighted in other countries.

[edit] Abbreviations used

• No treaty indicates that the U.S. does not have a copyright treaty with this country, so works created by residents of this country are not protected by copyright in the U.S.
• Life+X means that the work is in the public domain if the author died more than X years before the end of the current year.
• Treaty:Life+X means that according to a treaty the country has signed, it has agreed to extend its copyright protection to Life+X, but it has not yet done so.

For some special cases, we also use the following abbreviations:

• Post(X):Publ+Y means that works first published posthumously within X years after the death of the (last surviving) author are protected for Y years since the publication.
• Rehab+X means that works of authors who have been posthumously rehabilitated are copyrighted for X years since the rehabilitation (not the death of the author). This is the case in some successor countries of the former USSR, notably Russia.
• Unpubl+X means that if a previously unpublished work is published for the first time after its original copyright had expired, the publisher is granted the exclusive publication right for a period of X years since that eventual first publication. This is the case in the EU, but also in some successor countries of the USSR.

See also Commons:Licensing.

[edit] List

Afghanistan: Before 2002, No treaty. After 2002, unknown. Albania: Life+50 Algeria: Life+50 Andorra: Life+70 Angola: Life+50 Argentina: Life+50 Armenia: Life+50;[1] retroactive law of January 12, 2000 superceding previous law of May 27, 1996. Special case: Post(50):Publ+50 Australia: Life+70, but photographs taken before 1955 are in the public domain. Other works created by authors who died before 1955 are also out of copyright. See copyright expiration in Australia Austria: Life+70 Azerbaijan: Life+50;[1] law from June 5, 1996. Special case: Post(30):Publ+50 Bahrain: Life+50 Bangladesh: Life+50 Barbados: Life+50 Belarus: Life+50;[1] law from May 16, 1996; with amendments of August 11, 1998 and January 4, 2003. Belgium: Life+70 Belize: Life+50 Benin: Life+50 Bhutan: No treaty Bolivia: Life+50 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Life+70 Brazil: Life+70 Brunei: Life+50 Bulgaria: Life+50 Burkina Faso: Life+50 Burundi: Life+50 Cambodia: Life+50 Canada: Life+50. Photographs created before 1949 are in the public domain no matter when the photographer died. Chile: Life+50 (Treaty:Life+70) China: Life+50. Photographs instead go into the public domain 50 years after their creation. (See {{PD-China}}.) Colombia: Life+80 Costa Rica: Life+70 Cote d'Ivoire: Life+99 Croatia: Life+70 Cuba: Life+50; photographs: publ+25; Corporate ownership: perpetual copyright![2] Cyprus: Life+50 (Treaty:Life+70) Czech Republic: Life+70 Denmark: Life+70. Photograps fall into two categories: 1) Trivial photographs, i.e. not "works of art", become PD 50 years after creation. 2) Photos with artistic merit are Life+70, see Commons:Category:PD-Denmark. Djibouti: Life+25. (Treaty:Life+50) Ecuador: Life+70 Egypt: Life+50 El Salvador: Life+50 Estonia: Life+70;[1] law from December 12, 1992, amended numerous times, lastly November 18, 2002. Ethiopia: No treaty Fiji: Life+50 Finland: Life+70 France: Life+70, Unpubl+25 Germany: Life+70 Photographs that are not "creative works" (such as passport photos) are not copyrighted, but still may not be used in Germany until 50 years after their creation or earliest publication, whichever is later. See this excellent source for details. Special case: Unpubl+25. Ghana: Life+50 Georgia: Life+70[1]; retroactive law from September 1999. Special case: Unpubl+25. Greece: Life+70 Guatemala: Life+75 Hong Kong: Life+50 Hungary: Life+70 Iceland: Life+50 India: Life+60 Photographs instead go into the public domain 60 years after their creation. Indonesia: Life+50 Iraq: Before 2004, No treaty. After 2004, unknown. (See {{Iraqcopyright}}.) Iran: No treaty Ireland: Life+70, Unpubl+25 Israel: Life+70 Italy: Life+50 (Treaty:Life+70) Japan: Life+50 Jordan: Life+50 Kazakhstan: Life+50;[1] law of June 10, 1996. Special cases: Post(30):Publ+50, Rehab+50. Kenya: Life+50 Kuwait: Life+50 Kyrgyzstan: Life+50;[1] law of January 1998, last amended June 29, 2001. The law is retroactive for a period of 50 years since publication or creation of a work. Special case: Post(50):Publ+50. Latvia: Life+70;[1] law of March 6, 2003; previous law was from 1993. The law is non-retroactive, i.e., applies only to works whose copyright had not yet expired in 2003. Special case: Unpubl+25 Lebanon: Life+50 Libya: Life+25 Liechtenstein: Life+70 Lithuania: Life+70;[1] non-retroactive law of March 5, 2003. Special case: Unpubl+25.

Luxembourg: Life+70 Madagascar: Life+70 Malawi: Life+50 Malaysia: Life+50 Malta: Life+70 Mexico: Life+100 Moldova: Life+50;[1] law of November 23, 1994, amended July 25, 2002. Special cases: Post(30):Publ+50; audiovisual works are protected for 50 years since creation or publication, if any. Mongolia: Life+50 Morocco: Life+50 Namibia: Life+50 Nepal: No treaty Netherlands: Life+70, Unpubl+25 New Zealand: Life+50 Niger: Life+50 Nigeria: Life+70 Norway: Life+70 Oman: Life+50 Pakistan: Life+50 Photographs instead go into the public domain 50 years after their creation. (See {{PD-Pakistan}}.) Panama: Life+50 Papua New Guinea: Life+50 Paraguay: Life+70, but if a work was created in Paraguay and was first published without a copyright notice, it is in the public domain. Peru: Life+70 Philippines: Life+50, but this is contested. (See {{PD-Philippines}}.) Poland: Life+70, but photographs published prior to May 23, 1994 without a clear copyright notice are in the public domain. (See {{PD-Poland}}.) Portugal: Life+70 Qatar: Life+50 Romania: Life+70 Russia: Life+70;[1] law of July 1993, amended 2004. Both the 1993 law and its 2004 amendmend were retroactive for a period of 50 years. Special cases: Post(∞):Publ+70, Rehab+70; for authors who fought in World War II, the copyright term is extended by 4 years. St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Life+50 Samoa: Life+75 San Marino: No treaty Saudi Arabia: Life+50 Serbia and Montenegro: Life+50 Seychelles: Probably Life+25, but this is unclear. Singapore: Life+50 (Treaty:Life+70) Slovakia: Life+70 Slovenia: Life+70 Solomon Islands: Life+50 South Africa: Life+50 South Korea: Life+50 Soviet Union: unknown, see Template talk:PD-USSR. Spain: Life+70 Sudan: Life+25 (Treaty:Life+50) Sweden: Life+70, but photographs taken before 1 January 1969 are no longer protected. All photographs, sound recordings, film footage and radio or TV broadcasts taken or transmitted since 1 January 1969 are protected for 50 years instead of "life+70". Switzerland: Life+70 Syria: Life+50 Taiwan: Life+50 Photographs instead go into the public domain 50 years after their creation. (See {{PD-China}}.) Tajikistan: unknown[1] Tanzania: Life+50 Thailand: Life+50 Togo: Life+50 Tonga: Life+50 Trinidad and Tobago: Life+50 Tunisia: Life+50 Turkey: Life+70 Turkmenistan: unknown[1] Ukraine: Life+70;[1] law of August 2001, retroactive for a period of 50 years. Special cases: Rehab+70, Post(30):Publ+70, Unpubl+25. United Arab Emirates: Life+50 United Kingdom: Life+70 but photographs protected by Crown copyright and taken before 1 June 1957 have copyright expire 50 years from creation. [1][2] Special case: Unpubl+25. United States: See #Published works in the United States above. Uruguay: Life+50, but if a work was created in Uruguay and was first published without a copyright notice, it is in the public domain. Uzbekistan: Life+50;[1] law from August 30, 1996, amended December 15, 2000. Venezuela: Life+60 Vietnam: Life+50 Photographs instead go into the public domain 50 years after their creation. Yemen: Apparently No treaty, although this is uncertain. Zambia: Life+50 Zimbabwe: Life+50

[edit] Sources

• Circular 15a (PDF) from the United States Copyright Office.
• Circular 38a (PDF) from the United States Copyright Office.
• Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
• Copyright Durations from Bromberg and Sunstein, LLP
• How Can I Tell Whether a Book Can Go Online? from the Online Books Page

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} For most successor states of the former USSR and the three Baltic states Estland, Latvia, and Lithuania, up-to-date English transcriptions of the current copyright laws are available at CIPR.
2. ^ Ley sobre Derecho de Autor; Ley 14, December 28, 1977, last modified 1994.