Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Consolidated list Southeastern Asia

This page gives overviews of copyright rules in different countries of Southeastern Asia, as defined in the United Nations geoscheme for Asia. It is "transcluded" from individual pages giving the rules for each country. The list may be used for comparison or maintenance.

Text transcluded from
COM:Brunei

Brunei

Copyright rules: Brunei Shortcut: COM:BRUNEI
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Create + 50 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	For 3D works and "works of artistic craftsmanship"
Common licence tags	{{PD-Brunei}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	BRN
Treaties
Berne convention	30 August 2006
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	2 May 2017
*‌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 Brunei (officially, the Brunei Darussalam) relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Brunei must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Brunei 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 Brunei, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The Bruneian Empire once controlled a large part of the island of Borneo, but in the 19th century lost most of its territory to the Dutch and British. In 1888 what remained of Brunei became a British protectorate. Brunei regained independence on 1 January 1984.

Brunei has been a member of the Berne Convention since 30 August 2006, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 2 May 2017.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Emergency (Copyright) Order, 1999 as the main copyright law issued by the Executive of Brunei. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

A work first published in Brunei will be in the public domain because its copyright protection has expired by virtue of the Emergency (Copyright) of 1999 if it meets one of the following criteria:

• Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works:
  • Computer-generated: 50 years from creation.^{[1999 14(3)]}
  • Anonymous/pseudonymous: 50 years from creation.^{[1999 14(2)]}
  • Other: 50 years from death of (last known) author(s).^{[1999 14(1)]}
• Sound recording or film: 50 years from publication or creation (whichever date is later) ^{[1999 Sec.15]}
• Broadcast or cable program: 50 years from publication.^{[1999 Sec.16(1)]}
• Government work
  • Published with 75 years of creation: 50 years from publication.^{[1999 167(1)(3)(b)]}
  • Otherwise: 125 years from creation.^{[1999 167(1)(3)(a)]}
• Legislative council work: 50 years from creation.^{[1999 169(3)]}
• Act or order
  • 50 years from assent of an act.^{[1999 168(2)]}
  • 50 years from creation of an emergency order.^{[1999 168(3)]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Brunei}}

Freedom of panorama

OK for 3D works and works of artistic craftsmanship = {{FoP-Brunei}}.  Not OK for 2D graphic works.

Under the Emergency (Copyright) Order, 1999 of Brunei Darussalam,

• It is not a copyright infringement to make graphic representations, take photographs, broadcast the images of buildings, sculptures, models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship given that the object is permanently situated in a public place, nor to reproduce aforementioned works to the public.^{[1999 Section 66]}
• "Work of artistic craftsmanship" is defined separately from "graphic work".^{[1999 Section 6]} "Graphic work" includes any painting, drawing, diagram, map, chart or plan, and any engraving, etching, lithograph, woodcut or similar work.^{[1999 Section 6]} These works are not covered by the Section 66 exception.^{[1999 Section 66]}

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:Cambodia

Cambodia

Copyright rules: Cambodia Shortcut: COM:CAMBODIA
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 75 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 75 years
Collective	Publish + 75 years
Posthumous	Publish + 75 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Common licence tags	{{PD-Cambodia}} {{PD-CambodiaGov}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	KHM
Treaties
Berne convention	9 March 2022
WTO member	13 October 2004
URAA restoration date‌*	13 October 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 Cambodia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Cambodia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Cambodia 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 Cambodia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Cambodia became a protectorate of France in 1863, and regained independence on 9 November 1953.

Cambodia has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 13 October 2004, and became a member of the Berne Convention since 9 March 2022.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the 2003 Law on Copyright and Related Rights as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Cambodia. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

According to Cambodia's Law on Copyright and Related Rights, 2003,

• The protection of economic right starts from the date of the creation of a work and covers the life of the author, and the whole 50 years following his/her decease. In the case of a work of collaboration, the economic rights shall be protected during the life of the last surviving author and for 50 years after his/her death.^{[2003 Article 30]}
• For anonymous and pseudonymous works, copyright expires 75 years after publication. If not published within 50 years of its creation, copyright expires 75 years after it was made accessible to the public. If not made accessible to the public within 50 years of its creation, copyright expires 100 years after creation. If the identity of the author is revealed or is established beyond doubt of the public before this period of expiration, copyright instead expires 50 years after the death of the author.^{[2003 Article 31]}
• For collective, audiovisual, or posthumous works, copyright expires 75 years after publication. If not published within 50 years of its creation, copyright expires 75 years after it was made accessible to the public. If not made accessible to the public within 50 years of its creation, copyright expires 100 years after creation.^{[2003 Article 31]}

Not protected

The following works shall not have under any protection by this law: a- Constitution, Law, Royal Decree, Sub-Decree, and other Regulations; b- Proclamation (Prakas), decision, certificate, other instructed circulars issued by state organizations; Court decision or other court warrants; d- translation of the materials mentioned in the preceding paragraphs; e- Idea, formality, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained or embodied in any work.^{[2003 Article 10]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Cambodia}} - Works where the (last surviving) author has been dead for over 50 years. Collective, anonymous, pseudonymous or collective audio-visual works 75 years after creation or publication.^{[2003 Article 30–31]}
• {{PD-CambodiaGov}} - ineligible for copyright because it is one of: "Constitution, Law, Royal Decree, Sub-Decree, ... other Regulation, ... Proclamation (Prakas), decision, certificate, other instructed circulars issued by state organizations" and "Court decision or other court warrants" including translations thereof or "Idea, formality, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained or embodied in any work."^{[2003 Article 10]}

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK, only incidental ("not the main subject") inclusion is allowed. {{NoFoP-Cambodia}}

Cambodian copyright law does provide some form of freedom of panorama, but does not allow if the artistic works become the main subject of the subsequent reproduction (that is, further depictions). The "principle" on the English version is likely a typographical error, as "principle" is not used as an adjective in the English language. More likely, it should have been "principal".

• "If there is a clear indication of the author's name and the source of work, the following acts are not subjected to any prohibitions by the author: ... The reproduction of graphic or plastic work which is situated in the public place, when this reproduction doesn't constitute the principle [sic] subject for subsequent reproduction."^{[2003 Article 25]}

Note: "Copyright protection expires 50 years after the death of the original author (who may be the architect, sculptor, or muralist) of a public artistic work of Cambodia.^{[2003 Article 30]} On January 1st of the following year (ie. January 1 of the 51st Year), freely-licensed images of the author's sculptures, buildings, murals, or monuments are now free and can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. The lack of Freedom of Panorama is no longer relevant here for sovereign states with no formal FOP legal rights since the author's works are now copyright free."

Stamps

 Not OK - Stamps are not among the government documents exempt from copyright.^{[2003 Article 10]} They may count as anonymous or collective works, in which case copyright expires 75 years after publication. If the author is known, presumably they are protected for life + 50 years.^{[2003 Articles 31]}

See also

• ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា
• Category:Cambodian FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of Cambodia

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:East Timor

East Timor

Copyright rules: East Timor Shortcut: COM:EAST TIMOR
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 25 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 50 years
Government	Public domain
Applied art	Life + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	TLS
Treaties
URAA restoration date‌*	30 August 2024
*‌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 East Timor (Timor-Leste) relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in East Timor must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both East Timor 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 East Timor, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

East Timor, the eastern part of the island of Timor, was a Portuguese colony until November 1975, when it declared independence. Indonesia invaded East Timor a few days later, and in 1976 it was declared a province of Indonesia. After a prolonged struggle for independence Indonesia relinquished control in 1999 and East Timor (Timor Leste) became a sovereign state on 20 May 2002.

Timor-Leste became a WTO member on 30 August 2024, meaning that this is the URAA restoration date.

Governing laws

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, did not list any laws enacted by the legislature of East Timor that directly defined IP rules. The UN similarly found no such copyright laws except for limited provisions in the Constitution and the Civil Code. The rules applicable to Portuguese colonies or to Indonesia should be considered for works created prior to 1999. For later works, we assume that Indonesian copyright law as of 1999 applies, per a VPC discussion, that law is the Copyright Law of the Republic of Indonesia Consolidated text of law No.6/1982 As amended by law No.7/1987 and Law No.12/1987. Per its Chapter II Copyright Validity:

• Article 26 - The copyright on:
  • a. books, computer program, pamphlets, typographical arrangement of published works, and all other written works;
  • b. sermons, lecturers, addresses and other works of utterance
  • c. visual aids for educational and scientific purposes
  • d. songs or music with or without lyrics, including arts of karawitan and phonograms;
  • e. dramatic works, dances (choreographic works), puppet shows, pantomimes;
  • f. all forms of arts, such as paintings, drawings, engravings, calligraphy, carving, sculptures, collages, applied arts in the form of handy crafting;
  • g. architecture;
  • h. maps;
  • i. batik art;
  • j. translations, interpretations, adaptations, anthologies, and other works as a result of changing of form or mode

shall be protected for the life of the author and 50 (fifty) years after his death.

• Article 27 (1) - The copyright on:
  • a. computer programs;
  • b. cinematographic works;
  • c. phonograms;
  • d. performances;
  • e. broadcasting works;

shall be for 50 (fifty) years as from the first publication.

• Article 27 (2) - The copyright on a photographic work shall be for 25 (twenty five) years as from the first publication of the work.
• Article 27 (2a) - The copyright on typographical arrangement of a published work shall be for 25 (twenty five) years as from the first publication of the work.

And according to article 12, there shall be no copyright to:

• a. any result of open meetings of the Highest State Institutions and High State Institutions and other constitutional institutionà
• b. laws and regulations;
• c. court decisions and judicial orders;
• d. state addresses and government official speeches;
• e. awards of arbitration boards.

2022 Code of Copyright and Related Rights

On 29 November 2022, the East Timorese parliament approved its first-ever copyright law, the Code of Copyright and Related Rights; it comes into effect 180 days after it was published. It contains 224 articles and is awaiting approval from the President of East Timor. The date of effectivity is 28 May 2023. A copy of the law in Portuguese is available at the official journal of the Republic of East Timor, at pages 19–51.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-TLGov}} - works published by the Government of East Timor, public domain according to the Article 12 of 1982 Indonesian Copyright Law. This template only applies to works published before 28 May 2023.

Freedom of panorama

OK under the new Code of Copyright and Related Rights of 2022: {{FoP-East Timor}}.

The previous law applicable for East Timor, the 1982 Indonesian Copyright Law, did not provide a suitable freedom of panorama for free uses of images of copyrighted artistic works and architecture in public spaces.

Under the new Code of Copyright and Related Rights (2022), a freedom of panorama legal right is provided that is apparently based on Portuguese model:

• The use of works, such as, for example, works of architecture or sculpture, made to be kept permanently in public places;
• Original (Portuguese) text: A utilização de obras, como, por exemplo, obras de arquitetura ou escultura, feitas para serem mantidas permanentemente em locais públicos;^{[2022/Article 129(2)(o)]}

See also

• Timor Lorosa'e
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Indonesia
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Portugal
• Category:East Timor 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:Indonesia

Indonesia

Copyright rules: Indonesia Shortcut: COM:INDONESIA
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Photograph	Publish + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 50 years
Applied art	Publish + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-IDNoCopyright}} {{PD-IDGov}} {{PD-IDOld-Art58}} {{PD-IDOld-Art59}} {{PD-IDUnknown}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	IDN
Treaties
Berne convention	5 September 1997
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	6 March 2002
*‌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 Indonesia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Indonesia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Indonesia 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 Indonesia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Governing laws

The Dutch East Indies was a colony of the Netherlands until 1949, when it gained independence as Indonesia. From 1912 to 1982, copyright is governed by Auteurswet 1912 (Stbld No. 600/1912). The first Indonesian copyright legislation was passed as the 1982 Copyright Law (Undang-Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 1982 tentang Hak Cipta). It was amended twice in 1987 (Undang-undang Nomor 7 Tahun 1987) and 1997 (Undang-Undang Nomor 12 Tahun 1997).

The principal copyright legislation of Indonesia is the 2014 Copyright Law (Undang-Undang Nomor 28 Tahun 2014 tentang Hak Cipta), which was in force since 16 September 2014. The law's text is available in WIPO Lex database. In addition, certain government works also falls under the provisions of:

• 2008 Access to Public Information Law (Undang-Undang Nomor 14 Tahun 2008 tentang Keterbukaan Informasi Publik);
• 2011 Geospatial Information Law (Undang-Undang Nomor 42 Tahun 2011 tentang Informasi Geospasial);
• 2019 Law on the National Science and Technology System (Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2019 tentang Sistem Nasional Ilmu Pengetahuan dan Teknologi).

Indonesia is a High Contracting Party to:

• World Trade Organization, since January 1995;
• Berne Convention, since 5 September 1997;
• WIPO Copyrights Treaty, since 6 March 2002;
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, since 2004.

Indonesia enjoys a special copyrights protection treaty relationship with the United States under provisions of the 1989 American-Indonesian Copyrights Protection Agreement. Under the international law principle of lex specialis, copyright disputes involving American and Indonesian parties and/or works must abide by the treaty first, as it is in the level of a public law (Undang-Undang).

Relevant secondary statutes which enforces the provisions of laws mentioned above includes:

• Government Regulation No. 1/1989 on Translation and/or Reproduction of Works for Educational, Scientific, Research, and Development Purposes;
• Government Regulation No. 20/2005 on Transfer of Intellectual Property Rights of Technology Developed from Research and Development Conducted by Universities and Research Institutions;
• Government Regulation No. 61/2010 on Access to Public Information;
• Government Regulation No. 16/2020 on Works Registration and Relevant Products with Rights;
• Joint Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights and Minister of Information and Communications No. 26/2015 on Enforcement of Limitations on Contents and/or Access to Copyright Violators and/or Relevant Rights within Electronic System.

General rules

Under the 2014 Copyright Law:

• The standard copyright term for literary, musical, fine art and architectural works is the author's life + 70 years.^{[28/2014 Article 58(1)]}
• For works of joint authorship, protection lasts for the life of the last surviving author + 70 years.^{[28/2014 Article 58(2)]}
• For works authored by legal entities, protection lasts for 50 years from publication.^{[28/2014 Article 58(3)]}
• A term of 50 years from publication applies to anonymous or pseudonymous work.^{[28/2014 Article 60(2)]}
• For photographs, portraits, cinematographic works, derived works and collected works, copyright lasts for 50 years from publication.^{[28/2014 Article 59(1)]}
• For works of applied art protection lasts for 25 years since the first publication.^{[28/2014 Article 59(2)]}

Photographic works from Indonesia published before 1971 may be in the public domain in the United States if they were published without a copyright notice and not published in the US within 30 days after their Indonesian publication. Under the 1982 Copyright Law, as amended in 1987, the copyright law in effect at the time of the URAA, prescribed a 25-year post-publication copyright for photographic works, so works published before 1971 would have been public domain at the time of the URAA.

The previous law on copyright, 2002 Copyright Law, was repealed and replaced by the 2014 Copyright Law. See "Category:PD Indonesia license tags" to check deprecated PD Indonesia copyright tags.

Copyright limitation and public domain

Not protected

2014 Copyright Law is based on Dutch law and retains the same distinction between works with "no copyright" and works that may be used "without infringement of Copyright".

According to Article 42, the following works have no copyright: result of open meetings of State institutions; laws and regulations; State speeches or speeches of government officials; court decisions or judge provisions; scriptures or religious symbols. These works are in the public domain and should be tagged with {{PD-IDNoCopyright}}.

According to Article 43, Acts that are not considered as Copyright infringements include:

• Publication, Distribution, Communication, and/or Reproduction of State emblems and national anthem in accordance with their original nature; ^{[28/2014 Article 43(a)]}
• Any Publication, Distribution, Communication, and/or Reproduction executed by or on behalf of the government, unless stated to be protected by laws and regulations, a statement to such Works, or when Publication, Distribution, Communication, and/or Reproduction to such Works are made. ^{[28/2014 Article 43(b)]}
• Taking of actual news, either in whole or in part from a news agency, Broadcasting Organization, and newspaper or other similar sources provided that the source is fully cited; ^{[28/2014 Article 43(c)]}
• Production and distribution of the Copyrighted content through information technology and communication media that are not commercial and/or lucrative for the Author or related parties, or the Author expresses no objection to the manufacture and dissemination in question. ^{[28/2014 Article 43(d)]}
• Reproduction, Publication, and/or Distribution of Portraits of the President, Vice President, former Presidents, former Vice Presidents, National Heroes, heads of State institutions, heads of ministries/non-ministerial government agencies, and/or the heads of regions by taking into account the dignity and appropriateness in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations. ^{[28/2014 Article 43(e)]}

These works may be uploaded to Commons and tagged with {{PD-IDGov}}. However, please note that it has not been determined if modifications or derivatives can be made to works enumerated in Article 43 (Please read the Commons discussion on the issue here).

Copyright tags

• {{PD-IDGov}} – for works published and/or distributed by the government of Republic of Indonesia and fulfills the conditions of Article 43 of the 2014 Copyright Law on copyrights., see Commons:Licensing
• {{PD-IDOld-Art58}} – for works whose copyright has expired according to Article 58 of the 2014 Copyright Law
• {{PD-IDOld-Art59}} – for works whose copyright has expired according to Article 59 of the 2014 Copyright Law
• {{PD-IDUnknown}} – for works by unknown authors whose copyright has expired according to section (2) and (3) from Articles 60 of the 2014 Copyright Law
• {{PD-IDNoCopyright}} – no copyright according to Article 42 of the 2014 Copyright Law

Currency

OK under Article 43(b) of the 2014 Copyright Law. The design, printing, and distribution of Rupiah banknotes and coins are regulated by the 2011 Currency Law. Bank Indonesia, the central bank and an independent state agency, prints Rupiah on behalf of the government. Publication, distribution, communication, and/or reproduction executed by or on behalf of the government, unless stated to be protected by laws and regulations, a statement to such Works, or when publication, distribution, communication, and/or reproduction to such works are made are not considered an infringement of copyright.

OK under Article 14(b) of the now-repealed Indonesian Copyright Act No. 19, 2002 states that "publication and/or reproduction of anything which is published by or on behalf of the Government, except if the Copyright is declared to be protected by law or regulation or by a statement on the work itself or at the time the work is published" is not an "infringement of Copyright". Indonesian banknotes are issued by Bank Indonesia and its predecessor Bank Negara Indonesia, which from 1953 to 1968 was "a corporate body belonging to the state" (Act No.11 of 1953), from 1968 to 1999 "belongs to the state" (Act No.17 of 1968) and from 1999 onwards is "a state institution:, and they thus fall under the aegis of Article 14b.

Please use {{PD-IDGov}} for images of Indonesian currency. However, please note that it has not been determined if modifications or derivatives can be made to works enumerated in Article 43 of the 2014 Copyright Law (Please read the Commons discussion on the issue here).

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK ({{NoFoP-Indonesia}}), with exception on educational purpose and non-commercial use. There is no usable provision under the Chapter VI ("Copyright Limitations", Articles 43–51) in the 2014 Copyright Law allowing unrestricted uses of images of copyrighted artistic works in public spaces for commercial purposes. Fair use-like provisions exist, such as use for educational and research purposes (Article 44.1), personal use (Article 46), and reporting of current events or short excerpts of the works by the broadcast media (Article 48.b).

This position was upheld by Creative Commons Indonesia in their November 2018 statement on freedom of panorama status in Indonesia.

Several users and contributors have claimed that freedom of panorama exists by virtue of Article 43(d). However, the 2018 statement of Creative Commons Indonesia asserts that this is a restrictive provision, in which every image showing copyrighted architecture and public art must bear a statement claiming that the use is not for profit. Otherwise, direct permission from the creator or copyright holder is totally required when the use involves commercial interest, to avoid acts of copyright infringement. The provision in question:

• The production and distribution of the copyrighted content through information technology and communication media that are not commercial and/or lucrative for the Author or related parties, or the Author expresses no objection to the manufacture and dissemination in question.^{[28/2014 Article 43(d)]}

It should be noted that Commons:Licensing forbids fair use and non-commercial licensing, as these types of licenses prevent files from "being used by anyone, anytime, for any purpose."

Throughout 2020-21, an extensive discussion, which does not reach any form of meaningful consensus, about the status of FoP in Indonesia can be found here and here.

Stamps

under Article 43(b) of the 2014 Copyright Law.

Please use {{PD-IDGov}} for images of Indonesian postal stamps. However, please note that it has not been determined if modifications or derivatives can be made to works enumerated in Article 43 (Please read the Commons discussion on the issue here).

Threshold of originality

Indonesia's threshold of originality is reportedly low, being based on common law ("Anglo-American model") principles, with "wallpaper, wrappers, packaging designs and technical drawings" being registered by copyright authorities.

See also

• Indonesia
• Category:License tags of Indonesia
• Category:Indonesian FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of Indonesia

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:Laos

Laos

Copyright rules: Laos Shortcut: COM:LAOS
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Create + 50 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 50 years
Applied art	Create + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Laos}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	LAO
Treaties
Berne convention	14 March 2012
Univ. Copyright Convention	16 September 1955
WTO member	2 February 2013
URAA restoration date‌*	14 March 2012
*‌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 Laos relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Laos must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Laos 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 Laos, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Laos became a French protectorate in 1893 and regained independence on 22 October 1953.

Laos has been a member of the Universal Copyright Convention since 16 September 1955, the Berne Convention since 14 March 2012 and the World Trade Organization since 2 February 2013.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 38/NA of November 15, 2017, on Intellectual Property as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Laos. WIPO holds the Lao language text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. As of 2018, SBLAW of Vietnam provided an English language version of the 2017 IP law on their website.

The new law does not include radical changes, but clarifies that broadcasts may be made over new technologies such as WiFi and the Internet. "This law supersedes the Law on Intellectual Property No. 01/NA dated December 20, 2011, and regulations and provisions which contradict this law, are hereby repealed".^{[38/NA/2017 Article 170]}

The former governing law was the Law No. 08/NA of December 24, 2007, on Intellectual Property, in force on April 14, 2008.

General rules

Under Law No. 38/NA of November 15, 2017, on Intellectual Property, the term of copyright shall begin on the date the work is created and shall continue to the end of the calendar year of the dates described below:

• Except as otherwise provided in this article, 50 years after the date of death of the author, or for a work of joint authorship, fifty years after the date of death of the last surviving author.^{[38/NA/2017 Article 113.1]}
• For anonymous or pseudonymous works, 50 years from the date the work was lawfully made available to the public.^{[38/NA/2017 Article 113.2]}
• For a cinematographic work, 50 years from the date the work was made available to the public with the consent of the author, or, failing such an event within fifty years from the making of such a work, fifty years from the making.^{[38/NA/2017 Article 113.3]}
• For applied art, 25 years from the date of creation.^{[38/NA/2017 Article 113.4]}

Not protected

The following are ineligible for copyright protection: 1. News of the day or miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information; 2. Ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such; 3. Official texts of a legislative, administrative and legal nature, and official translations of such texts.^{[38/NA/2017 Article 94]}

Copyright tags

{{PD-Laos}} – Work first published in Laos and now in the public domain because its copyright protection has expired.

Currency

 Unsure There seems no specific mentions about banknotes in the Law No. 38/NA of November 15, 2017, on Intellectual Property. Banknotes are not mentioned as artistic works. It is not clear if the government's right to hold copyright extends to banknotes.

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK. Law No. 38/NA of November 15, 2017, on Intellectual Property allows only incidental use:

• "reproducing, by photography or cinematography, images of works of fine art, photographs, and other artistic works, and works of applied art, provided such works have already been published, publicly displayed, or communicated to the public, where such reproduction is incidental to the photographic or cinematographic work and is not the object of the photographic or cinematographic work."^{[38/NA/2017 Article 115.3]}
• "For the purpose of reporting current events by means of photography, cinematography, broadcasting or communication to the public by wire, literary or artistic works seen or heard in the course of the event may, to the extent justified by the informatory purpose, be reproduced and made available to the public. The above acts shall not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and shall not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author."^{[38/NA/2017 Article 115]}

Stamps

. Law No. 38/NA of November 15, 2017, on Intellectual Property does not mention stamps, and nothing that could be interpreted as stamps is included in the list of unprotected works.^{[38/NA/2017 Article 94]}

See also

• ປະເທດລາວ
• Category:Stamps of Laos
• Category:Laotian 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:Malaysia

Malaysia

Copyright rules: Malaysia Shortcut: COM:MALAYSIA
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Create/Publish + 50 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 50 years
Posthumous	Publish + 50 years
Government	Publish + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Malaysia}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	MYS
Treaties
Berne convention	1 October 1990
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	27 December 2012
*‌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 Malaysia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Malaysia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Malaysia 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 Malaysia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The territory that is now Malaysia was formed from several Malay states that became subject to Britain as the Straits Settlements. Peninsular Malaya regained independence on 31 August 1957, and united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia. Singapore left the federation in 1965.

Malaysia has been a member of the Berne Convention since 1 October 1990, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 27 December 2012.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act 1987 (Act 332, as at 1 January 2006) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Malaysia. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. This was amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012. The 2012 act does not appear to affect the definitions of works or terms of protection.

The 1987 Act did not revive expired copyrights: "... this Act shall apply in relation to works made before the commencement of this Act as it applies in relation to works made after the commencement of this Act: Provided that this section shall not be construed as reviving any copyrights which had expired before the commencement of this Act."^{[332/2006 Section 2(1)]}

General rules

Under Copyright Act 1987 (Act 332, as at 1 January 2006),

• Except as otherwise provided, copyright in a literary, musical or artistic work subsists during the life of the author and for 50 years after his death.^{[332/2006 Section 17(1)]}
• Where a literary, musical or artistic work had not been published before the death of the author, copyright subsists for 50 years from the year in which the work was first published.^{[332/2006 Section 17(2)]}
• Where a literary, musical or artistic work is published anonymously or under a pseudonym, copyright subsists for 50 years from the year in which the work was first published, made available to the public or made, whichever is the latest.^{[332/2006 Section 17(3)]}
• In this section, a reference to "author" shall, in the case of a work of joint authorship, be construed as a reference to the author who dies last.^{[332/2006 Section 17(4)]}
• Copyright subsists in a published edition for 50 years from the year in which the edition was first published.^{[332/2006 Section 18]}
• Copyright subsists in a sound recording for 50 years from the year in which the recording was first published or, if the sound recording has not been published, from the year of fixation.^{[332/2006 Section 19]}
• Copyright subsists in a broadcast for 50 years from the year in which the broadcast was first made.^{[332/2006 Section 20]}
• Copyright subsists in a film for 50 years from the year in which the film was first published.^{[332/2006 Section 22]}
• Copyright subsists in every work which is eligible for copyright and which is made by or under the direction or control of the Government and such Government organizations or international bodies as the Minister may by order prescribe.^{[332/2006 Section 11]} Copyright in works of the Government, Government organizations and international bodies subsists for 50 years from the year in which the work was first published.^{[332/2006 Section 23]}
• Regardless of the above, the texts of laws, judicial opinions, and government reports are always free from copyright.^{[332/2006 Section 3 (definition of literary work)]}

All 50-year durations are computed from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work was first published or made. In other words, as of 2024, anonymous works published prior to 1 January 1974 are now in the public domain.

Duration under the Copyright Act 1969

A comparison of copyright laws in Asia from 1982 gives information on the copyright terms under the previous Copyright Act 1969, which is unavailable online. They were shorter than those in the Copyright Act 1987:

• General term: Author's life + 25 years
• Anonymous, pseudonymous, or posthumous works: Publication + 25 years
• Cinematographic works: Publication + 25 years
• Photographic works: Publication + 25 years
• Sound recordings: Publication + 25 years
• Broadcasts: Broadcast + 25 years
• Works of legal bodies: Publication + 25 years

Because the 1987 extension was not retroactive, works made by authors who died before 1962 are in the public domain in both Malaysia and the US according to URAA, as well as anonymous, cinematographic, photographic, sound recording, broadcast, or corporate works published prior to 1962.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Malaysia}}

Currency

 Not OK According to the Bank Negara Malaysia, "You are not allowed to reproduce the Malaysian currency. It is also illegal for you to use any photograph, drawing or design of any note, coin or any part of the note or coin, of any size, scale or colour, in any advertising or on any merchandise or products, which are manufactured, sold, circulated or distributed except with the permission of BNM".

Freedom of panorama

OK {{FoP-Malaysia}}

According to Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, the right of control is excluded from "the reproduction and distribution of copies of any artistic work permanently situated in a place where it can be viewed by the public".^{[332/2006 Section 13(2)(d)]} Section 3 defines "artistic work" as any graphic work, photograph, sculpture, collage, and work of architecture or artistic craftsmanship. Layout-designs of integrated circuits are not artistic works.

For the meaning of the term works of artistic craftsmanship, see "United Kingdom – Freedom of panorama".

Stamps

According to article 23 of The Copyright Act 1987 (act 332), works by the Government Organizations are subject to copyright until the beginning of the year following 50 years after publication, so only stamps more than 50 years old may be uploaded and they should use the template {{PD-Malaysia}}. This applies until 1992 when the Malaysian post office was corporatized as Pos Malaysia, so the normal artistic copyright term likely applies (life plus 50 years), unless as a corporate work the term of publish plus 50 years applies.

Threshold of originality

The threshold of originality situation in Malaysia remains  Unsure. Some previous discussions:

1. The File:Hcc.png was deleted probably based on calligraphic Chinese words, and cited that COM:TOO UK may also applied for deletion;
2. But the File:Petronas Logo.svg was nominated and decided to keep twice, despite that this may also beyond COM:TOO UK. Note that this logo is used before June 2013, and since that, the Petronas modified their logo to be more modern and fairly complex, the current Petronas logo is located at English Wikipedia for Fair use, though some users oppose that.

See also

• Malaysia
• Category:License tags of Malaysia
• Category:Malaysian FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of Malaysia
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/United Kingdom

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:Myanmar

Myanmar

Copyright rules: Myanmar Shortcut: COM:MYANMAR
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Creation + 50 years or Publish + 50 years
Government	Publish + 50 years
Applied art	Creation + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Myanmar}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	MMR
Treaties
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 Myanmar (formerly Burma) relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Myanmar must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Myanmar 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 Myanmar, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Burma became a British colony after 1886. The country regained independence on 4 January 1948. Its official name was changed to Myanmar in 1989, although the name Burma is still widely used.

Myanmar has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995.

As of 2022 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 15/2019 of May 24, 2019 as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Myanmar. WIPO holds the official Burmese text of the law in their WIPO Lex database. An unofficial English translation is provided by Lincoln Legal Services (Myanmar) Ltd..

The 2019 act repealed the British colonial-era Copyright Act of 1911, promulgated in 1914 and incorporated the United Kingdom Copyright Act of 1911 with some modifications concerning administration. WIPO Lex also holds the text of this abolished law.

The 2019 act appears to be retroactive: "A Copyright protected according to the Myanmar Copyright Act 1914 shall be subject to the protection and the protection period of this law."^{[2019 Section 87]} In another provision: "Copies of a Reproduced Work made without the authorisation of the Copyright Owner or Related Rights Owner, but according to the law before the effective date of this law may be distributed to the public within two years from the effective date of this law."^{[2019 Section 90]}

Applicability

According to Law No. 15/2019 of May 24, 2019, copyright covers the following works (enumerated a to l):^{[2019 Section 13]}

• books, pamphlets, poems, novels, articles, Computer Programs and other writings
• speeches, lectures, addresses, sermons and other oral works
• dramatic, dramatico-musical works, pantomimes, choreographic works and other works created for stage productions
• musical works, with or without accompanying words
• Audiovisual Works including Cinematographic Work
• works of architecture
• works of drawing, sketching, painting, carving, sculpture, engraving, mosaic, wood work, pottery, metal ware, terra-cotta, jewellery, handicrafts, costumes, indigenous textiles
• lithography, weaving, tapestry and other works of fine art
• Photographic Works
• works of applied art
• textile designs
• three-dimensional works related to geography, topography, architecture or science

General rules

According to the Law No. 15/2019 of May 24, 2019,

• The economic rights shall be protected during the lifetime of the Author and for 50 years after his death;^{[2019 Section 17(a)(1)]}
• In the case of a Work of Joint Authorship, the economic right shall be protected during the life of the last surviving Author and for 50 years after his death;.^{[2019 Section 17(a)(2)]}
• In the case of Audiovisual Work or Cinematographic Work, the economic right shall be protected for 50 years after the work is made available to the public with the approval of the Author or if there is no such engagement, the economic right of the work shall be protected for 50 years after its creation.^{[2019 Section 17(a)(3)]}
• In the case of a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the economic rights shall be protected for 50 years from the date on which the work was either made, first made available to the public or first published, whichever date is the latest, provided that where the Author's identity is revealed or is no longer in doubt before the expiration of the said period, the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall apply, as the case may be.^{[2019 Section 17(a)(4)]}
• In the case of government work, apart from the matters that don't have protection made under section 16, where a Government department or organisation is the first owner of the Copyright, the Copyright shall subsist until 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year in which the work is first published or made available to the public.^{[2019 Section 17(a)(5)]}
• In the case of a Work of Applied Art, the economic rights shall be protected for 25 years from the making of the work.^{[2019 Section 17(a)(6)]}

Not protected

Unprotected works according to Law No. 15/2019 of May 24, 2019, Section 16 (a to f) are:^{[2019 Section 16]}

• (a) idea, procedure, system, concept, mathematical concept, principle, discovery or data
• (b) news of the day as mere items of information;
• (c) the constitution and laws
• (d) procedures, rules, directives, notifications, explanations from a ministry, government organisation or regional or state government;
• (e) judgments and orders from a court.
• (f) translations and collections of (c) and (e)

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Myanmar}}

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK Chapter 12 (Sections 24–33) of the Law No. 15/2019 of May 24, 2019, containing the limitations and exceptions to copyright, does not contain a provision resembling freedom of panorama.

The repealed Burma Copyright Act 1911 had a British-style freedom of panorama that covered depictions of works of architecture, sculpture, and artistic craftsmanship permanently found in public spaces through paintings, drawings, engravings, and photographs, as well as publication of such depictions.^{[1914 Section 2(1){iii)]} This did not cover paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, and photographs found in public spaces.

Notes

• As the 2019 act appears to be retroactive, the British-style freedom of panorama is rendered void.
• "Copyright protection expires 50 years after the death of the original author (who may be the architect, sculptor, or muralist) of a public artistic work of Myanmar (Burma). On January 1st of the following year (ie. January 1 of the 51st Year), freely-licensed images of the author's sculptures, buildings, murals, or monuments are now free and can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. The lack of Freedom of Panorama is no longer relevant here for sovereign states with no formal FOP legal rights since the author's works are now copyright free."

See also: Category:Burmese FOP cases.

Stamps

Under Sec. 17(a)(5) of the Law No. 15/2019, Government works of Myanmar are copyrighted for 50 years from first publication (before 1 January 1974).

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:Philippines

Philippines

Copyright rules: the Philippines Shortcut: COM:Philippines
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Create/publish + 50 years
Anonymous	Create/publish + 50 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 50 years
Posthumous	Life + 50 years
Government	Free
Applied art	Create + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Philippines}} {{PD-PhilippinesGov}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	PHL
Treaties
Berne convention	1 August 1951
Univ. Copyright Convention	19 November 1955
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	4 October 2002
*‌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 the Philippines relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in the Philippines must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both the Philippines 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 Philippines, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The Philippines archipelago was colonized by Spain from the 16th century. The country declared independence after the Spanish American War of 1898. Spain had ceded the Philippines to the United States, which recolonized the country in 1899–1902. The Philippines regained independence on 4 July 1946.

The Philippines has been a member of the Berne Convention since 1 August 1951, the Universal Copyright Convention since 19 November 1955, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 4 October 2002.

Governing laws

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 8293) (2015 Edition) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of the Philippines. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

The IP Code of the Philippines, which took effect on January 1, 1998, repeals the Presidential Decree No. 49 (Decree on the Protection of Intellectual Property) that took effect on November 14, 1972 and repealed Act No. 3134 (Copyright Law of the Philippine Islands) of 1924. The repealing clauses are found at Section 240 for the present law and Section 64 for the 1972 law, therefore both laws can be considered as non-retroactive and works that fell into public domain before the date of effectivity of the laws remained in public domain. However, works with subsisting copyright protection continue to enjoy copyright protection, under the provisions of the newer law.^{[49/1972 Section 63][8293/2015 Section 240.3.]}

Applicability

Under Republic Act No. 8293, the following literary and artistic works are given copyright protection from the moment of creation.^{[8293/2015 Chapter II Section 172.1]}

• Books, pamphlets, articles and other writings.
• Periodicals and newspapers.
• Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral delivery, whether or not reduced in writing or other material form.
• Letters.
• Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions; choreographic works or entertainment in dumb shows.
• Musical compositions, with or without words.
• Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or other works of art; models or designs for works of art.
• Original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture, whether or not registrable as an industrial design, and other works of applied art.
• Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, charts and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science.
• Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character.
• Photographic works including works produced by a process analogous to photography; lantern slides.
• Audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works produced by a process analogous to cinematography or any process for making audio-visual recordings.
• Pictorial illustrations and advertisements.
• Computer programs.
• Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works.

These are protected by copyright "by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of expression, as well as of their content, quality and purpose."^{[8293/2015 Chapter II Section 172.2]}

General rules

According to the IP Code of the Philippines (Act No. 8293) (2015 Edition),

• Literary and artistic works works are protected during the life of the author and for 50 years after his death. This rule also applies to posthumous works.^{[8293/2015 Section 213.1]}
• Works of joint authorship are protected during the life of the last surviving author and for 50 years after his death.^{[8293/2015 Section 213.2]}
• Anonymous or pseudonymous works where the author's identity is not revealed are protected for 50 years from the date on which the work was first lawfully published, or if the work is not published for 50 years from the making of the work.^{[8293/2015 Section 213.3]}
• Works of applied art are protected for 25 years from the date of making.^{[8293/2015 Section 213.4]}
• Photographic works are protected for 50 years from publication of the work and, if unpublished, for 50 years from the making.^{[8293/2015 Section 213.5]}
• Audio-visual works including those produced by process analogous to photography or any process for making audio-visual recordings, the term is 50 years from date of publication and, if unpublished, from the date of making.^{[8293/2015 Section 213.6]}
• The terms of protection provided in section 213 are always be deemed to begin on the first day of January of the year following the event which gave rise to them.^{[8293/2015 Section 214]}
• Sound or Image and Sound recordings are protected for 50 years from the end of the year in which the recording took place.^{[8293/2015 Section 215.1]}
• Broadcasts are protected for 20 years from the date the broadcast took place.^{[8293/2015 Section 215.2]}

For works created before 1998

• Presidential Decree No. 49 (1972) provided the same terms of protection in most cases (50 years).^{[49/1972 Sections 21–25]}
• Act No. 3134 (1924) did not grant automatic copyright protection from the moment of creation; instead copyright began to exist when a work was registered.^{[3134/1924 Section 11]} Copyright duration was 30 years from registration, and a renewal was needed to further protect the work, for another 30 years.^{[3134/1924 Section 18]}

According to Section 3.1 of the Memorandum Circular No. 021-2023, released by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines in 2023 and governing the rules about public domain works in the Philippines, works meeting the following criteria are automatically in public domain:

• "Works created prior to 14 November 1972 that were not registered or the registrations of which were not renewed prior to such date, whether the author is alive or deceased." (Section 3.1(a))
• "Works created prior to 14 November 1972 that were registered or the registrations of which were renewed: Provided, that the author has died and more than 50 years has elapsed from said death." (Section 3.1(b))
• "Irrespective of Sections 3.1a. and 3.1b. above, any work belonging to the category of work below which has been created or published for more than 30 years as of 1 January 1998: (i) Periodicals and newspapers; (ii) Works of applied art, and (iii) Cinematographic or photographic works as well as those produced by any process analogous to cinematography or any process for making audio-visual recordings."

Works that may be "copyrighted" using the current 50 years p.m.a. may actually be public domain due to non-retroactivity of the newer law. Example: Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan, authored by Guillermo Tolentino (died 1976) but unveiled in 1933, during the regime of Act No. 3134.

Nevertheless, as Wikimedia Commons licensing policy requires hosted files to be free both in the source country and in the United States, several public domain works in the Philippines cannot be hosted on the media repository site due to still-existing U.S. copyrights brought by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (see Commons:URAA-restored copyrights). Any work from the Philippines that were still under Philippine copyright as of 1 January 1996 (the URAA date of effectivity for works from the Philippines) should not be uploaded on Wikimedia Commons, even if those are now in public domain in the Philippines, until after the expiration of U.S. copyrights.

Commissioned works

Works created during the course of employment

• In the case of work created by an author during and in the course of his employment, the copyright shall belong to:
  • (a) The employee, if the creation of the object of copyright is not a part of his regular duties even if the employee uses the time, facilities and materials of the employer.
  • (b) The employer, if the work is the result of the performance of his regularly-assigned duties, unless there is an agreement, express or implied, to the contrary.^{[8293/2015 Section 178.3]}

Works created during the course of commission

In most cases physical ownership does not equate to ownership of copyright:

• In the case of a work commissioned by a person other than an employer of the author and who pays for it and the work is made in pursuance of the commission, the person who so commissioned the work shall have ownership of the work, but the copyright thereto shall remain with the creator, unless there is a written stipulation to the contrary.^{[8293/2015 Section 178.4]}

This especially applies to cases of works commissioned and owned by the Philippine Government or its subdivisions and instrumentalities, but the creators or authors of such works are not employees of the Government or the Government itself.

Not protected

No protection shall extend to any idea, procedure, system, method or operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data as such, even if they are expressed, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; news of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information; or any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof.^{[8293/2015 Section 175]}

Government works

Works made by the government, or by government employees, are not protected by copyright:

No copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties. No prior approval or conditions shall be required for the use for any purpose of statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations, pronounced, read or rendered in courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assemblies and in meetings of public character.^{[8293/2015 Section 176.1]}

The clause for prior approval is determined to be a non-copyright restriction and can be safely ignored for the purposes of Wikimedia Commons by policy. Therefore works of the Philippine Government is considered to be under the Public Domain. See discussion for {{PD-PhilippineGov}}.

The government may acquire copyright in a work, which will continue to last for the normal duration:

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest or otherwise; nor shall publication or republication by the government in a public document of any work in which copyright is subsisting be taken to cause any abridgment or annulment of the copyright or to authorize any use or appropriation of such work without the consent of the copyright owner.^{[8293/2015 Section 176.3]}

For further information, refer to:

• Copyright protection over the works of the Government – October 15, 2019 BusinessWorld article, by Mary Erica D. Manuel, Associate of the Intellectual Property Department of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW)
• IPOPHL Memorandum Circular No. 2020 - 024: Copyright Rules and Regulations for the Government – 2020 Implementing Rules and Regulations by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (via Google Drive)

Philippine News Agency content -  Unsure

The website of the Philippine News Agency contains terms of use stating that content on the website can only "be downloaded or printed for your own personal and non-commercial use only of not more than five (5) articles/photos per day." It adds that commercial use requires "written consent of NIB-PNA." The News and Information Bureau of the Philippine government repeats this copyright claim: "All contents of this site are protected by Philippines copyright laws under Republic Act No. 8293, known as the Intellectual Property (IP) Code of the Philippines, and may not be reproduced, distributed, altered, published or broadcast for commercial use without prior permission from PNA and its mother unit, the News and Information Bureau (NIB). However, the public may freely use PNA news contents with proper attribution for personal use only particularly in disseminating latest articles for public consumption in social media such as Facebook and Twitter." See also: Category:Philippine News Agency-related deletion requests.

Provincial government websites

Official websites of some Philippine provinces bear copyright-related terms of use, such as those of Agusan del Sur and of Iloilo, notwithstanding what is dictated in the law that no copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government.

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Philippines}} – for public domain Philippine images whose copyrights expired or released into the public domain.
• {{PD-PhilippinesGov}} – for works of the government of the Philippines exempted from copyright as stated by Republic Act No. 8293.
• {{PD-PhilippinesPubDoc}} – for works that are derived from a public document, as stated at Section 175 of Republic Act. No. 8293.
• {{WorkDepicted-PD-PhilippinesGov}} – for images that depict a work of the government of the Philippines exempted from copyright as stated by Republic Act No. 8293.

Currency

 Not OK. For reproductions of legal tender notes or metallic copies of legal tender coins.
OK. For copies of notes and coins that are no longer legal tender, and for non-metallic reproductions of coins.

No copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit.^{[8293/2015 Section 176.1]} The Central Bank of the Philippines prohibits making, distributing or using:

• Any handbill, advertisement, placard, circular, card, or any other object whatsoever bearing the facsimile, likeness or similitude of any legal tender Philippine currency note, or any part thereof, whether in black and white or any color or combination of colors, without prior authority therefore having been secured from the Governor, BSP or his duly authorized representative.
• Any object whatsoever bearing the likeness or similitude as to design, color or the inscription thereon of any legal tender Philippine currency coin or any part thereof, in metal form, irrespective of size and metallic composition, without prior authority from the Governor, BSP or his duly authorized representative.

See also: Category:Philippine currency-related deletion requests.

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK for majority of the works of art. {{NoFoP-Philippines}} Note: Please tag Philippine no-FoP deletion requests: <noinclude>[[Category:Philippine FOP cases/pending]]</noinclude>

There is no provision in any of the exceptions listed under Chapter VIII ("Limitations on copyright") of the IP Code of the Philippines (Act No. 8293) (2015 Edition) allowing images of copyrighted architectural and artistic works to be made and/or distributed for commercial purposes, such as post cards, stamps, calendars, advertising materials, and T-shirt printing.^{[8293/2015 Chapter VIII Section 184–190]}

According to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, street art is "qualifiable for copyright protection" per the copyright law. Accordingly, the artists "enjoy economic rights, which involves generation of profit from others' use, reproduction, or any transformation of their work for commercial purposes. Another right enjoyed by a copyright holder are moral rights or the rights of an author to proper attribution, to make any alterations on his or her works, to withhold or deny publication, and to object to any modifications or mutilation to his or her work."

Section 184 of Chapter VIII provides the following acts as not constituting copyright infringement:^{[8293/2015 Chapter VIII Section 184.1]}

(d) The reproduction and communication to the public of literary, scientific or artistic works as part of reports of current events by means of photography, cinematography or broadcasting to the extent necessary for the purpose; (Sec. 12, P.D. No. 49)

(e) The inclusion of a work in a publication, broadcast, or other communication to the public, sound recording or film, if such inclusion is made by way of illustration for teaching purposes and is compatible with fair use: Provided, That the source and of the name of the author, if appearing in the work, are mentioned.

None of these provisions are strictly free enough for Wikimedia Commons. In particular, fair use is not allowed on Wikimedia Commons, and licensing limited to noncommercial uses is not allowed either.

Recent developments

See meta:Pilipinas Panorama Community/Freedom of Panorama#Recent developments for the recent developments concerning the attempt to introduce freedom of panorama in the country.

Public domain exceptions for FoP-reliant works

OK: Buildings completed prior to November 14, 1972: {{PD-Philippines-FoP work}}. The previous copyright laws, the Spanish Law on Intellectual Property (1879) and Act No. 3134 (1924, which followed the U.S. copyright law), did not protect buildings. On November 14, 1972, Presidential Decree No. 49 took effect which formally protected works of architecture and made works copyright-protected upon creation, removing copyright registration formalities. See also the following discussions: Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2020/08#Philippine buildings before 1972 and Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2021/06#Philippine buildings from 1951–1972 - anew.

OK: Artistic works (e.g. sculptures) made before 1972 that were not registered, and artistic works made before 1942 that were once registered but not renewed: {{PD-Philippines-FoP work}}. Act No. 3134, the then-prevailing copyright law, required registration and a notice for a work to be copyright-protected. Such requirements were removed by Presidential Decree No. 49 s. 1972. Works were considered not protected by copyright unless these were registered, and the term of copyright was 30 years from the date of registration. See also Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Bonifacio National Monument (Caloocan City)#Files in Category:Bonifacio National Monument (Caloocan City) 2.

OK: literary texts on commemorative markers from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and its predecessors: {{WorkDepicted-PD-PhilippinesGov}}. See also this deletion request.

General copyright term for all architectural and artistic works: Copyright protection expires 50 years after the death of the original or last-surviving author (whether the architect, sculptor, painter, or other artist). On January 1st of the following year (ie. January 1 of the 51st Year), freely licensed images of the author's 3D works such as sculptures, buildings, bridges or monuments are now free and can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. The lack of Philippine freedom of panorama is no longer relevant here since the author's works are now copyright free.

See also: Category:Philippine FOP cases.

Stamps

use {{PD-PhilippineGov}}

Works by the government of the Philippines are not protected by copyright. A prior approval of the government is necessary for exploitation of such works for profit. However, the clause for prior approval is determined to be a non-copyright restriction and can be safely ignored for the purposes of Wikimedia Commons by policy. (See discussion).

Warning while Philippine stamps are public domain as works of the Philippine government, one must also take into account the underlying derivative works that may appear in the stamps, such as photographs from non-free sources and copyrighted artworks. Section 176.3 of the copyright law provides that the copyright in a work is not invalidated by its "publication or republication by the government in a public document." See also this April 2020 deletion request and this May 2021 deletion request.

Threshold of originality

The concept of threshold of originality probably does not exist in the Philippines. It is possible that the sweat of the brow concept applies. In this concept, "a work can be eligible for copyright protection if there is a substantial amount of labor, effort, or investment involved, even if it lacks a significant level of creativity. This standard places emphasis on the effort put into creating the work rather than the level of originality or creativity." (Reference: Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2023/07#Probable low Philippines TOO)

For this reason, some logos that may be simple for the American jurisprudence may be eligible for copyright in the Philippines. Two examples are logos of Photo Sikwate (2022-00957-G) and of Geomax Solutions and Innovations (2022-01698-G), both of which were afforded copyright registration as proven by the 2022 copyright registry of Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

However, in the midst of controversy surrounding the most popular noontime variety show of the Philippines in mid-2023 (refer to w:en:Eat Bulaga!#Copyright infringement case for the background information), Atty. Maggie Garduque who represents the show's producer (TAPE, Inc.) claims the design of the logo of the show "is a trademark and not subject of copyright."

See also

• Pilipinas / Philippines
• Category:Philippine law deletion requests
• Category:Stamps of the Philippines

External links

• Website of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
• Copyright Registration Search (from 2021). Retrieved on 2023-10-20.

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:Singapore

Singapore

This page requires updating because: New Copyright Act 2021 commenced in November 2021. In doing so, you could add a timestamp to the page.

Please notify the uploader with {{subst:update-note|1=Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Consolidated list Southeastern Asia/en|2=New Copyright Act 2021 commenced in November 2021.}} ~~~~

Copyright rules: Singapore Shortcut: COM:SINGAPORE
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Posthumous	Publish + 70 years
Government	Publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	For 3D works and "works of artistic craftsmanship"
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-SG-artisticwork}} {{PD-SG-photo}} {{PD-Singapore}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SGP
Treaties
Berne convention	21 December 1998
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	17 April 2005
*‌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 Singapore relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Singapore must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Singapore 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 Singapore, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The British East India Company established a trading post on Singapore island in 1819, which became a British crown colony in 1858. Singapore gained independence in 1963 as part of Malaysia, then became a sovereign nation in 1965.

Singapore has been a member of the Berne Convention since 21 December 1998, the WIPO treaty since 17 April 2005 and the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995.

As of 2021 the Singapore Government's Singapore Statutes Online website provided the text of the Copyright Act 2021 (Act 22 of 2021), which repeals and re-enacts the former Copyright Act (Chapter 63). Except provisions related to collective management organizations, the Copyright Act 2021 came into operation on 21 November 2021. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations Agency, listed the Copyright Act (Chapter 63) (Revised Edition 2006, as amended up to the Intellectual Property (Border Enforcement) Act 2018) was the main copyright law enacted by the legislature. WIPO holds a copy of this act in their WIPO-LEX database.

Definitions

Under the Copyright Act (Chapter 63) as amended up to 2018, Section 7,^{[63/2006-2018 Section 7]}

• Artistic work means: (a) a painting, sculpture, drawing or engraving, whether the work is of artistic quality or not; (b) a building or model of a building, whether the building or model is of artistic quality or not; or (c) a work of artistic craftsmanship to which neither paragraph (a) nor (b) applies.
• Broadcast means broadcast by wireless telegraphy, which means the emitting or receiving, otherwise than over a path that is provided by a material substance, of electro-magnetic energy.
• Cable programme is a programme which is included in a cable programme service.
• Cable programme service means a service which consists wholly or mainly in the sending by any person, by means of a telecommunication system (whether run by him or by any other person), of sounds or visual images or both either (a) for reception, otherwise than by wireless telegraphy, at two or more places in Singapore, whether they are so sent for simultaneous reception or at different times in response to requests made by different users of the service; or (b) for reception, by whatever means, at a place in Singapore for the purpose of their being presented there either to members of the public or to any group of persons.
• Cinematograph film is the aggregate of visual images embodied in an article or thing so as to be capable by the use of that article or thing (a) of being shown as a moving picture; or (b) of being embodied in another article or thing by the use of which it can be so shown, and includes the aggregate of the sounds embodied in a soundtrack associated with such visual images.
• Compilation means (a) a compilation, or table, consisting wholly of relevant materials or parts of relevant materials; (b) a compilation, or table, consisting partly of relevant materials or parts of relevant materials; or (c) a compilation, or table, of data other than relevant materials or parts of relevant materials, which, by reason of the selection or arrangement of its contents, constitutes an intellectual creation.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 7A(3)]}
• Dramatic work includes (a) a choreographic show or other dumb show if described in writing in the form in which the show is to be presented; and (b) a scenario or script for a cinematograph film.
• Drawing includes any diagram, map, chart or plan.
• Literary work includes (a) a compilation in any form, and (b) a computer program.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 7A(1)]}
• Sound broadcast is sounds broadcast otherwise than as part of a television broadcast.
• Sound recording is the aggregate of the sounds embodied in a record, and a record is a disc, tape, paper or other device in which sounds are embodied.
• Telecommunication system is a system for the conveyance, through the agency of electric, magnetic, electro-magnetic, electro-chemical or electro-mechanical energy, of (a) speech, music and other sounds; (b) visual images; (c) signals serving for the impartation (whether as between persons and persons, things and things or persons and things) of any matter otherwise than in the form of sounds or visual images; or (d) signals serving for the actuation or control of machinery or apparatus.
• Television broadcast is visual images broadcast by way of television, together with any sounds broadcast for reception along with those images.

Non-government works

Under the Copyright Act (Chapter 63) as amended up to 2018,

• The following works are in the public domain upon the expiry of 70 years after the end of the calendar year in which the authors of the works died:
  • Published literary, dramatic and musical works.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 28(2)]}
  • Published and unpublished artistic works other than photographs.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 28(2)]}
• If, before the death of the author of a literary, dramatic or musical work the work had not been published, performed in public, broadcast or included in a cable programme, and records of the work had not been offered or exposed for sale to the public, the work is in the public domain upon the expiry of 70 years after the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published, performed in public, or broadcast, or included in a cable programme, or records of the work are first offered or exposed for sale to the public, whichever is the earliest of those events to happen (that is, the work was made available to the public before or in 1953).^{[63/2006-2018 Section 28(3)]}
• If, before the death of the author of an engraving the work had not been published, the work is in the public domain upon the expiry of 70 years after the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published (that is, it was first published before or in 1953).^{[63/2006-2018 Section 28(5)]}
• An anonymous or pseudonymous literary, dramatic and musical work is in the public domain if 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published (that is, it was first published before or in 1953).^{[63/2006-2018 Section 29(1)]} The work ceases to be in the public domain if at any time before the 70-year period expires the identity of the author of the work is generally known or can be ascertained by reasonable inquiry.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 29(2)]}
• A photograph is in the public domain in the following situations:
  • If it was taken before 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which it was taken (that is, it was taken before or in 1953).^{[63/2006-2018 Section 212]}
  • If it was taken on or after 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which it was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 28(6)]}
• A published edition of a work or works is in the public domain in the following situations:
  • If it was first published before 10 April 1987.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 223]}
  • If it was published on or after 10 April 1987, 25 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which it was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 96]} The copyright in a published edition protects the typographical format of the edition, which is separate from any copyrights in the work recorded. Therefore, even if the copyright in the typographical format has expired, the distinct copyright in the text (which is a literary work) and in illustrations or photographs (which are artistic works) may still be subsisting. Do not upload files containing such works unless another licence such as {{PD-SG-lifetimepub}} or {{PD-SG-photo}} is applicable.
• A cinematograph film is in the public domain in the following situations:
  • If it was made before 10 April 1987.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 220]}
  • If it was made on or after 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 88,93]}
• A sound recording is in the public domain in the following situations:
  • If it was made before 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the recording was made (that is, it was made before or in 1953).^{[63/2006-2018 Section 219(4)]}
  • If it was made on or after 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the recording was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 92]}
• A television broadcast, sound broadcast or cable programme is in the public domain in the following situations:
  • If the broadcast was made or the cable programme included in a cable programme service before 10 April 1987.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 222(a), 224]}
  • If the broadcast was made or the cable programme included in a cable programme service on or after 10 April 1987 —
    • The television or sound broadcast is a repetition of a broadcast made before that date.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 222(b)]}
    • 50 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the broadcast was first made or the cable programme was first included in a cable programme service.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 94,95]}

Government works

Under the Copyright Act (Chapter 63) as amended up to 2018,

• A literary, dramatic or musical work made by or under the direction or control of the Government is in the public domain if 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published by or under the direction or control of the Government.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(3)(b)]}
• An artistic work made by or under the direction or control of the Government is in the public domain in the following situations:
  • If it is a photograph —
    • made before 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(4), 231]}
    • made on or after 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(4A)]}
  • If it is an engraving, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(4A)]}
  • If it is an artistic work other than an engraving or a photograph, if 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(4)]}
• A cinematograph film made by or under the direction or control of the Government is in the public domain in the following situations:^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(5)]}
  • If it was made before 10 April 1987, it is an original dramatic work that is in the public domain, and photographs forming part of the film are also in the public domain (see the preceding paragraphs).^{[63/2006-2018 Section 233]}
  • If it was made on or after 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 88,93]}
• A sound recording made by or under the direction or control of the Government is in the public domain in the following situations:^{[63/2006-2018 Section 197(5)]}
  • If it was made before 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the expiration of the calendar year in which the recording was made.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 219(4), 232]}
  • If it was made on or after 10 April 1987, 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the recording was first published.^{[63/2006-2018 Section 92]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-SG-artisticwork}} – for published and unpublished artistic works other than photographs.
• {{PD-SG-broadcast}} – for television and sound broadcasts, and cable programmes included in cable programme services.
• {{PD-SG-edition}} – for published editions of a work or works.
• {{PD-SG-film}} – for cinematograph films.
• {{PD-SG-lifetimepub}} – for literary, dramatic and musical works published in the author's lifetime.
• {{PD-SG-photo}} or {{PD-Singapore}} – for photographs.
• {{PD-SG-posthumouspub}} – for posthumously published literary, dramatic and musical works, and engravings.
• {{PD-SG-soundrec}} – for sound recordings.
• {{PD-SG-unknownauthor}} – for anonymous and pseudonymous literary, dramatic and musical works.

• {{FoP-Singapore}} – for a work that may be free under Singapore's freedom of panorama rules. A free license or public domain tag is also needed.

Currency

 Not OK. The copyright in the designs of banknotes and coins is held by the Government of Singapore. The designs may be regarded either as engravings, or as artistic works other than engravings or photographs, made by or under the direction or control of the Government, and under the Copyright Act (Cap. 63, 2006 Rev. Ed.):

• an engraving enters the public domain after 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published; and
• an artistic work other than an engraving or a photograph enters the public domain after 70 years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.

De minimis

Under section 10(1) of the Copyright Act (Cap. 63, 2006 Rev. Ed.) of Singapore, unless a contrary intention appears:

• a reference to the doing of an act in relation to a work or other subject-matter shall be read as including a reference to the doing of that act in relation to a substantial part of the work or other subject-matter; and
• a reference to a reproduction, adaptation or copy of a work shall be read as including a reference to a reproduction, adaptation or copy of a substantial part of the work, as the case may be.

Therefore, acts done in relation to insubstantial parts of a work or other subject-matter do not breach copyright.

Freedom of panorama

• OK for 3D objects and some 2D objects = {{FoP-Singapore}}
•  Not OK for paintings, drawings, engravings, and photographs

Freedom of panorama is granted to several types of artistic works in public spaces by Section 265 of the Copyright Act 2021 (Act 22 of 2021). Subsection 1 of the section enumerates works eligible for the Singaporean freedom of panorama: buildings or models of buildings; sculptures situated "other than temporarily" in public spaces or "premises open to the public"; and works of artistic craftsmanship.

Subsection 2 allows publications of the aforementioned eligible works in paintings, drawings, photographs, engravings, films, and television broadcasts or cable programmes. With the exception of the last-mentioned type of representation, publications of such representations are only permitted if the representations are "made on or after 10 April 1987."^{[22/2021 Section 265(2)(b)(i) and (d)(i)]}

If the paintings, drawings, engravings, and photographs of buildings, permanent sculptures, and/or works of artistic craftsmanship were made before that date, the law permits publications if "the making would have been a permitted use under paragraph (a) if this Act had been in operation at the time of the making."^{[22/2021 Section 265(2)(b)(ii)]} Similar condition exists for films: "the making would have been a permitted use under paragraph (c) if this Act had been in operation at the time of the making."^{[22/2021 Section 265(2)(d)(ii)]} Paragraph (a) states the following permitted use: "making a painting, a drawing, an engraving or a photograph of the work." For paragraph (c), "including the work in a film." See also Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2021/10#Singapore New Copyright Act Gazetted.

Section 20(1)(a) of the copyright law provides definitions for artistic works:

• a painting, a sculpture, a drawing, an engraving or a photograph (whether the work is of artistic quality or not);^{[22/2021 Section 20(1)(a)(i)]}
• a building or a model of a building (whether the building or model is of artistic quality or not);^{[22/2021 Section 20(1)(a)(ii)]}
• a work of artistic craftsmanship to which neither sub-paragraph (i) nor (ii) applies^{[22/2021 Section 20(1)(a)(iii)]}

This means that the Singaporean freedom of panorama does not apply to two-dimensional works such as billboards, posters and paintings in a gallery, even if these are permanently displayed in a public place. It does include some 2D works that are works of artistic craftsmanship, such as textiles.

For artistic works that are not eligible for the Singaporean freedom of panorama, incidental inclusion is provided through Section 266 of the law, but only "in a film, television broadcast or cable programme," not photographs.

Stamps

All stamps are under the copyright of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). No stamps may be reproduced without paying royalties to the IDA, if requested. According to Singapore's copyright law, stamps become public domain 70 years after the death of the engraver or 70 years after their issuance, if governmental work. Use {{PD-SG-artisticwork}}.

The Singapore Philatelic Museum has been appointed to administer approval for reproduction.

Threshold of originality

For logos

 Likely not OK for most logos. The level of originality required for copyright protection is presumably very low.

Because Singapore was a territory of the United Kingdom until 1963, Singapore law is modeled on UK law, and in the absence of any specific case law to the contrary it is reasonable to assume that the rules will be similar. See the United Kingdom for more details.

For buildings

Assume all Singaporean buildings as copyrighted, regardless of design or artistry involved. Copyright Act 2021 (Act 22 of 2021) explicitly considers all buildings as artistic works: a building or a model of a building (whether the building or model is of artistic quality or not).^{[22/2021 Section 20(1)(a)(ii)]} Please use {{FoP-Singapore}} even to plain-looking Singaporean buildings instead of {{PD-structure|SGP}}.

See also

• Singapore
• Category:License tags of Singapore
• Category:Stamps of Singapore
• Category:Singapore 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:Thailand

Thailand

Copyright rules: Thailand Shortcut: COM:THAILAND
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Create/Publish + 50 years (up to 2021); Standard duration (2022 onwards)
Anonymous	Create/Publish + 50 years
Audiovisual	Create/Publish + 50 years
Government	Create/Publish + 50 years State docs are Public domain
Applied art	Create/Publish + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Thailand}} {{PD-TH-exempt}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	THA
Treaties
Berne convention	17 July 1931
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 Thailand relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Thailand must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Thailand 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 Thailand, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Thailand (formerly called Siam) remained independent throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the only country in Southeast Asia to avoid European colonization. It became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

Thailand has been a member of the Berne Convention since 17 July 1931 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 B.E. 2537 (1994) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Thailand. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

This act was modified by the Copyright Act (No. 2) B.E. 2558 (2015), which adds provisions related to exceptions, rights management and violations. It was further modified by the Copyright Act (No. 3) B.E. 2558 (2015) which covers recording of movies in movie theaters and exceptions for disabled persons. Wikisource holds the Thai language version of the Copyright Act, 1994 and modifying acts.

Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994) was further modified by Copyright Act (No. 5) B.E. 2565 (2022). This amendment is mainly aimed at "clarifying ISPs' safe harbors" as well as "adopting a notice-and-takedown system". A notable change though is the non-retroactive extension of term for photographic works.

Copyright term

According to the Copyright Act, BE 2537 (1994),

• Except as stated below, copyright subsists for the life of the author and for 50 years after his death.^{[2537/1994 Sec.19]}
• With a work of joint authorship, copyright subsists for the life of the joint authors and for 50 years after the death of the last surviving joint author.^{[2537/1994 Sec.19]}
• If the author or all joint authors die prior to the publication of a work, copyright subsists for 50 years from first publication of the work.^{[2537/1994 Sec.19]}
• Where the author is a legal person, copyright subsists for 50 years as from authorship; if the work is published during such period, the copyright subsists for 50 years from first publication.^{[2537/1994 Sec.19]}
• Copyright under this Act in a work which is created by a pseudonymous or anonymous author subsists for 50 years from authorship; if the work is published during such period, copyright subsists for 50 years from first publication. If the identity of the author becomes known, Section 19 applies mutatis mutandis.^{[2537/1994 Sec.20]}
• Copyright in an audiovisual work, a cinematographic work, a sound recording or a sound and video broadcasting work endures for fifty years as from the authorship, provided that if the work is published during such period, copyright endures for fifty years as from the first publication.^{[2537/1994 Sec.21 (amended by 2565/2022 Sec.6)]}
• Copyright in a work of applied art subsists for 25 years from authorship; if the work is published during such period, copyright subsists for 50 years from first publication.^{[2537/1994 Sec.22]}
• Copyright in a work created in the course of employment, instruction or control subsists for 50 years from authorship; if the work is published during such period, copyright subsists for 50 years from first publication.^{[2537/1994 Sec.23]}
• When the term of copyright protection expires in the course of a year and the expiry date is not the last calendar day of the year or the exact date of expiry is not known, copyright subsists until the last day of that calendar year.^{[2537/1994 Sec.25]}

Historical changes in copyright terms

• The Rights of Author Act, 120 RE had a general copyright term of 7 years after the author's death or 42 years after publication.^{[120 RE/1901 Sec.5]}
• In 1931, the Literary and Fine Arts Protection Act B.E. 2474 (1931) increased the copyright terms to:
  • 30 years after the author's death^{[2474/1931 Sec.14]}
  • 30 years after publication for works published after the death of the author ^{[2474/1931 Sec.14]}
  • 30 years after creation for photographic works^{[2474/1931 Sec.16]}
  • 30 years after creation for phonograph records and music rolls^{[2474/1931 Sec.17]}
  • 30 years after creation for films^{[2474/1931 Sec.18]}
  • 30 years after publication for newspapers^{[2474/1931 Sec.19]}
• On December 11, 1978, the Copyright Act B.E. 2521 (1978) increased the copyright terms. According to the Act, the new terms were:
  • Copyright under this Act is available throughout the age of the creator and exists for another fifty years since the creator died. ^{[2521/1978 Sec.16]}
  • In the case of co-creators, the copyright in such work exists throughout the age of the co-creator and continue to exist for fifty years since the last co-creator died. ^{[2521/1978 Sec.16]}
  • If all creators or co-creators died before the work was published, it is fifty years since publication.^{[2521/1978 Sec.16]}
  • In the event that the creator is a juristic person, the copyright is available for fifty years since the creator has been created. But if there is a publication during that period, let the copyright be available for another fifty years since the first publication. ^{[2521/1978 Sec.16]}
  • Copyrighted works under this Act that have been created by the creator using alias or do not appear to be the creator, the copyright is available for fifty years since the creation of that work. But if there is a publication that work during the said period, the copyright is for fifty years since the first publication. In the event that you know the creator, Section 16 shall be used to apply mutatis mutandis.^{[2521/1978 Sec.17]}
  • Copyright in photographic works, audio-visual materials, films or broadcasting works exists. for fifty years since creating that work. But if there is a publication during the said period The copyright is for fifty years since the first publication.^{[2521/1978 Sec.18]}
  • Copyright in applied art exists for twenty-five years since creating that work, but if there is publication during that period, the copyright is for twenty-five years since publication for the first time. ^{[2521/1978 Sec.19]}
  • Copyright in the work that has been created by hiring or according to the order or in the control of Section 12 exists for fifty years since creating that work. But if the work has been published during that period, let the copyright for fifty years since the first publication. ^{[2521/1978 Sec.20]}
  • At the age of copyright protection due in any year, if the maturity date of the protection copyright does not match the end of the calendar year. Or in the event that it is not possible to know the maturity date of copyright protection Of course, the copyright will still exist until the end of the calendar year.^{[2521/1978 Sec.22]}
• The new terms in the 1978 Act appear to be retroactive: Works that was created before the date this Act came into force and without copyright according to the Literary and Fine Arts Protection Act B.E. 2474 (1931), but are protected according to this act receive copyright protection according to this Act.^{[2521/1978 Sec.50]}

2022 amendment

The Copyright Act (No. 5) B.E. 2565 (2022) amended the Section 21 of the Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994), removing "photographic work" from the provision so that all photographs still protected by copyright are now subject to the standard 50-year term as stated by Section 19. However, Section 15 of the 2022 amendment law makes it clear that photographs that had fallen out of copyright upon the enactment of the act remain in public domain and are not covered by the extension. (The amendment act was published on the Government Gazette on 24 February 2022 and became effective 180 days after this publication.)

Section 21 before the 2022 amendment was read:

• Copyright in a photographic work, audiovisual work, cinematographic work, sound recording or audio and video broadcasting work subsists for 50 years from authorship; if the work is published during such period, copyright subsists for 50 years from first publication.^{[2537/1994 Sec.21]}

Not protected

The following are not deemed copyright works:

• News of the day and facts having the character of mere information, not being works in the literary, scientific or artistic fields;^{[2537/1994 Sec.7(1)]}
• The constitution and legislation;^{[2537/1994 Sec.7(2)]}
• Regulations, bylaws, notifications, orders, explanations and official correspondence of the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units;^{[2537/1994 Sec.7(3)]}
• Judicial decisions, orders, decisions and official reports;^{[2537/1994 Sec.7(4)]}
• Translations and collections of the materials referred to above, made by the Ministries, Departments or any other government or local units.^{[2537/1994 Sec.7(5)]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Thailand}} – for works from Thailand, which have different copyright terms depending on type, usually 50 years after the creator's death or 50 years after publication.
• {{PD-TH-exempt}} – for works ineligible for copyright in Thailand, including laws and official government documents.

Currency

 Not OK: Reproduction of banknote images requires a permission from the Bank of Thailand.

Freedom of panorama

OK {{FoP-Thailand}}

The Thai Copyright Act of B.E. 2537 (A.D. 1994) states that:

• A drawing, painting, construction, engraving, moulding, carving, lithographing, photographing, cinematographing, video broadcasting or any similar act of an artistic work, except an architectural work, which is openly located in a public place shall not be deemed an infringement of copyright in the artistic work.^{[2537/1994 Sec.37]}
• A drawing, painting, engraving, moulding, carving, lithographing, photographing, cinematographing or video broadcasting of an architectural work shall not be deemed an infringement of copyright in the architectural work.^{[2537/1994 Sec.38]}

For artistic works that are not situated in public spaces (not "openly located in a public place"), these can only be photographed freely if de minimis:

• A photograph or cinematograph or video broadcast of a work of which an artistic work is a component shall not be deemed an infringement of copyright in the artistic work.^{[2537/1994 Sec.39]}
• Note that artistic work as defined by Section 4 of the law does not include works of literature. On the other hand, architecture as defined in the same section includes "design of buildings or constructions, a design of interior or exterior decoration as well as a landscape design or a creation of a model of buildings or constructions." It can be interpreted that elegant bridges are works of architecture that fall under the freedom of panorama, through the element "constructions."

According to several Thai Wikimedians, the Thai text of Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994) gives a more comprehensive clause, containing permanence requirement. (Reference: Commons:Deletion requests/File:Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti poster for mother's milk.jpg)

See also: Category:Thai FOP cases.

Threshold of originality

According to LawPlus Ltd. (2019), "a copyright work does not need distinctiveness required for a trademark but it must be a creative expression of an original idea of its author. The required level of originality or creativity is minimal." It can be interpreted that Thailand's threshold of originality for logos is low.

Stamps

The copyright of postage stamps is held by Thailand Post and lasts 50 years. Public domain for stamps published before 18 December 1974.^{[2537/1994 Sec.23]}

See also

• ประเทศไทย
• Category:License tags of Thailand
• Category:Stamps of Thailand

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:Vietnam

Vietnam

Copyright rules: Vietnam Shortcut: COM:VIETNAM
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 75 years
Anonymous	Publish + 75 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 75 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Vietnam}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	VNM
Treaties
Berne convention	26 October 2004
WTO member	11 January 2007
URAA restoration date‌*	23 December 1998
*‌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 Vietnam relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Vietnam must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Vietnam 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 Vietnam, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Vietnam was independent until the 19th century, when it was colonized by the French. After World War II the country declared independence on 2 September 1945. A struggle began with the French and then the United States, during which North Vietnam and South Vietnam were politically separated. North Vietnam was the victor, and the country was reunited in 1975.

Restoration of Vietnamese copyrights in the United States occurred through Presidential Proclamation No. 7161 of December 23, 1998. Vietnam has been a member of the Berne Convention since 26 October 2004 and the World Trade Organization since 11 January 2007.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 50/2005/QH11 of November 29, 2005, on Intellectual Property as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Vietnam. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. It was then modified by Law No. 36/2009/QH12 of June 19, 2009, amending and supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property, Law No. 42/2019/QH14 of June 14, 2019, amending the Law on Insurance Business and the Law on Intellectual Property and Law No. 07/2022/QH15 of June 16, 2022, amending and supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property. The Vietnamese government also published an official online version alongside an official English translation. As of 2022, the government issued a complete merged text on Intellectual Property Law.

In addition, there are 11 relevant decrees (17 if amendments are included) and 22 circulars (30 if amendments are included) serving as implementation guidances.

General rules

Standard term for works

• The standard copyright term for works is author's life + 50 years.^{[36/2009 Article 27(2b)]} For a work under joint authorship, the term of protection expires in the 50th year after the death of the last surviving co-author.^{[36/2009 Article 27(2b)]}
• The term of protection expires at 24:00 of December 31st of the year of expiration of the copyright protection term.^{[36/2009 Article 27(2c)]}

{{PD-anon-auto-1996|country=Vietnam}} URAA date for Vietnam is December 23, 1998. The 50-year term applied on the URAA date, so works published before January 1, 1948 where the author remains unknown, and works by authors who died before January 1, 1948, are in the public domain in the United States.

Cinematographic works, photographic works, works of applied art and anonymous works

• Under 2005 Law, cinematographic works, photographic works, dramatic works, works of applied art and anonymous works where the author remains unknown have a term of protection of 50 years from the date of first publication.^{[50/2005 Article 27(2a)]} Under 2009 Amendment, from January 1st 2010, cinematographic works, photographic works, works of applied art and anonymous works where the author remains unknown have a term of protection of 75 years from the date of first publication.^{[36/2009 Article 27(2a)]} Works which entered public domain prior to January 1st 2010 remained in the public domain even if they now qualified for copyright protection. And those works whose copyright terms have not expired on January 1st 2010 now prolong to 75 years.^{[36/2009 Article 220]}
• Under 2005 Law, within 50 years after the fixation of a cinematographic work or dramatic work, if such work has not been published, the term of protection shall be calculated from the date of its fixation.^{[50/2005 Article 27(2a)]}. Under 2009 Amendment, from January 1st 2010, for cinematographic works, photographic works and works of applied art which remain unpublished within 25 years from the date of fixation, the term of protection is 100 years from the date of fixation.^{[36/2009 Article 27(2a)]}

Posthumous works

• Since April 26, 2023, copyright term of posthumous works shall conform to Article 27 of the Law on Intellectual Property.^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 17]} Before April 26, 2023, posthumous works are granted 50 years of copyright protection from the date of first publication.^{[Decree No. 22/2018 Article 24]}

Related rights of performers, producers of phonograms or video recordings and broadcasting organizations

• The rights of performers shall be protected for 50 years counting from the year following the year of fixation of their performances.^{[50/2005 Article 34(1)]}

• The rights of producers of phonograms or video recordings shall be protected for 50 years counting from year following the year of publication, or 50 years counting from the year following the year of fixation of unpublished phonograms or video recordings.^{[50/2005 Article 34(2)]}

• The rights of broadcasting organizations shall be protected for 50 years counting from the year following the year of the making of their broadcasts.^{[50/2005 Article 34(3)]}

• The term of protection shall expire at 24:00 of December 31 of the year of expiration of related right protection term.^{[50/2005 Article 34(4)]}

Prior law

Law No. 50/2005/QH11 was not retroactive, so works that had gone into the public domain remained in the public domain even if they now qualified for copyright protection under the 2005 law. The prior laws were Ordinance No: 38-L/CTN of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, dated 2 December 1994, it was replaced by the Civil Code, Part 6: Intellectual property rights and technology transfer, adopted on 28 October 1995. Under these laws:

• Copyright extended for the life of the author and 50 years after their death.^{[1994 Art. 17][1995 Art. 766(2)]}
• Works of joint authorship were protected for 50 years after death of the last surviving author.^{[1994 Art. 18][1995 Art. 766(3)]}
• For cinematographic works, radio, television or video programs, and works published posthumously, copyright extended for 50 years after the date of first publication.^{[1994 Art. 20(1), 21][1995 Art. 766(4)]}
• The rights of unknown or anonymous authors belonged to the state, unless the author was identified within 50 years of the date of publication, in which case protection would apply until 50 years after the death of the author (or last surviving author).^{[1994 Art. 20(2), 21][1995 Art. 766(5)]}
• The rights of the producers of audio tapes and records, and of video tapes and disks shall be protected for a period of 50 years commencing on the date these tapes, records and disks are published for the first time.^{[1994 Art. 32][1995 Art. 777(2)]}
• The rights of radio and television broadcasting organizations shall be protected for a period of 50 years commencing on the date the radio or television program is broadcast for the first time.^{[1994 Art. 35][1995 Art. 779(2)]}

The first copyright law of Vietnam was Decree No. 142-HĐBT of November 14, 1986 by the Council of Ministers with the term of copyright protection was the life of the author (or the last surviving co-author) and 30 years after their death; and copyright for an organization was unlimited, if the organization was dissolved, the copyright belonged to the state.

Not protected

The following subject matters are not protected by copyright:^{[50/2005 Article 15]}

1. News of the day as mere items of press information. This means short, daily information, short news, factual figures which are informative but not creative in nature.^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(1)]}
2. Legal documents, administrative documents and other documents in the judicial domain and official translations of these documents.
   • Legislative documents include:^{[80/2015 Article 4]}

The system of Vietnam's legislative documents

The Constitution. Codes and Laws (hereinafter referred to as Laws), Resolutions of the National Assembly Ordinances, Resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly; Joint Resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the Management Board of Central Committee of Vietnamese Fatherland Front; Joint Resolutions between the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Government, the Management Board of Central Committee of Vietnamese Fatherland Front. Orders, Decisions of the President. Decrees of the Government; Joint Resolutions between the Government and Management Board of Central Committee of Vietnamese Fatherland Front Decision of the Prime Minister. Resolutions of Judge Council of the People’s Supreme Court. Circulars of the Executive Judge of the People’s Supreme Court; Circulars of the Chief Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy; Circulars of Ministers, Heads of ministerial agencies; Decisions of the State Auditor General. 8a. Joint Circulars between the Executive Judge of the People’s Supreme Court, the Chief Procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Auditor General, Ministers, Heads of ministerial agencies. Joint Circulars between Ministers and Heads of ministerial agencies shall not be promulgated. Resolutions of the People’s Councils of central-affiliated cities and provinces (hereinafter referred to as provinces). Decisions of the People’s Committees of provinces. Legislative documents of local governments in administrative - economic units. Resolutions of the People’s Councils of districts, towns and cities within provinces (hereinafter referred to as districts). Decisions of the People’s Committees of districts. Resolutions of the People’s Councils of communes, wards and towns within districts (hereinafter referred to as communes). Decisions of the People’s Committees of communes.

• "Administrative documents" include regulations, announcements, guidelines, programs, plans, projects, reports, contracts, memorandums, agreements, invitations, sick leave, etc. These are issued by governmental agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-profession-political organizations, social organizations, socio-profession organizations, and people’s armed forces.^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(2)]}

1. Processes, systems, operation methods, concepts, principles and data.
   • Procedures are sequences of actions which must be complied with in order to carry out tasks;^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(3)(a)]}
   • A system is a combination of factors, units of the same types or functions that are closely connected or correlated and create a unified form;^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(3)(b)]}
   • Methods are ways of studying, perceiving natural phenomena and social life;^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(3)(c)]}
   • Concepts are thoughts reflecting overview of real things and phenomena and how they are connected;^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(3)(d)]}
   • Principles are basic, general rules that govern a series of phenomenon; important initial thoughts or theories and starting points for further development of other theories.^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 8(3)(đ)]}

Note that the term "document" (translated from Vietnamese term văn bản) here means "written information communicated by means of language or sign"^{[Decree 30/2020 Article 3]} and hence does not include images, logos or emblems of any kind. The official format of an administrative document includes signature and seals,^{[Decree 30/2020 Article 8]} so it is assumed that signatures on government papers should be in the public domain.

However, Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP said "Collectors and correctors of works, suppliers of works, documents and materials that are paid remuneration by agencies or organizations using the publications, including: Documents of state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations and economic organizations, and translations of these documents". And "royalties and remuneration shall be included in the costs of publications".^{[Decree 18/2014 Article 12]}

The State's intellectual property policies are "not to protect intellectual property objects which are contrary to social ethics and public order and prejudicial to defense and security".^{[36/2009 Article 8(1)]}

Official gazette and the legitimately typified Code

The Government Office holds the copyright on electronic official gazette ("CONG BAO") of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Offices of provincial-level People's Committees hold the copyright on provincial-level electronic official gazette ("CONG BAO").^{[Circular 01/2017/TT-VPCP Article 7(2)]} See also Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Official Bulletins of Vietnam, Vietnam government seems to conflict themselves in this particular case (and actually many more) and this is a copyfraud.

The State holds the copyright to the legitimately typified Code.^{[Ordinance 03/2012/UBTVQH13 Article 14(2)]}

Copyright tags

• {{PD-Vietnam}} – all photographs enter the public domain fifty years after they were first published, and all non-photographic works enter the public domain fifty years after the death of the creator.
• {{PD-VietnamGov}} – for legal text documents, administrative text documents by the government and official translations, as well as other documents mentioned in the Not protected section. Do not use this for images and logos.
• {{PD-South VietnamGov}} — The government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam maintains that between 2 September 1945 and 2 July 1976 only the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam were legitimate governments and sees works issued by rival governments as illegal.

Currency

 Not OK. Banknotes and coins are not exempted from copyright law. Furthermore, duplication of Vietnamese banknotes or coins without the written consent of the State Bank is prohibited by an order of the Prime Minister in June 2003 (article 3).

National Flag, National Emblem, National Anthem

• Organizations and individuals exercising intellectual property rights related to the National Flag, National Emblem and National Anthem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam must not prevent or obstruct the dissemination and use of the National Flag, National Emblem, National Anthem.^{[07/2022 Article 7(2)]}

• The use of national emblem is regulated under Guidance 3420/HD-BVHTTDL, II. Quốc huy, Article 1, which refer to Article 973-TTg: (rough translation) "The image of national emblem is printed on the following papers/documents […] For cases not mentioned in this Article, organizations will submit them to the Prime Minister for his approval."

Freedom of panorama

 Not OK: all uploaded photographs of architectural and artistic works in public spaces from Vietnam, uploaded on Wikimedia Commons from 1 January 2023 onwards. Law No. 07/2022/QH15 which considerably amended the copyright law was passed on 16 June 2022, with the amendments coming into effect on 1 January 2023 (ASEAN briefing article, the text of the law in Vietnamese). The amendment added a non-commercial restriction to the Vietnamese freedom of panorama, but non-commercial licenses are not acceptable on Wikimedia Commons: To take photograph or televise the art work, architectural, photographic, applied-art works displayed at public places for the purpose of presenting images of these works and not for commercial purposes^{[07/2022 Article 25.1(h)]}. Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP explained "works of art" are works which are expressed by lines, color, shapes, composition, including: Paintings (paintings of lacquer, oil paint, powder, water color, dó paper, and other materials); graphics (wood engravings, metal engravings, rubber engravings, plaster engravings, unique prints, rock prints, propaganda paintings, graphic design, and other materials); sculpture (statues, monuments, relief, memorials, symbolic blocks); installation arts and other forms of contemporary art^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 6.7]}. Works of art, sculpture, installation art, and other forms of contemporary art exist as unique copies; works of graphic art can be depicted to the 50th iteration which must be numbered and signed by the authors^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 6.7]}. "Works of applied art" are works expressed by lines, color, shapes, and compositions with useful functions, potentially associated with a useful item, and manufactured manually or industrially and include: Graphic design (presentation of product logos, identity, and packaging; presentation of characters); fashion design; aesthetic design associated with forming products; aesthetic interior design, interior and exterior decoration^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 6.8]}. Works of applied art are expressed by aesthetic shaping of products, cannot be easily created by persons with average understanding in respective field, and do not require aesthetic exterior in order to function^{[Decree No. 17/2023 Article 6.8]}. Applicable template: {{NoFoP-Vietnam}}

• Note, valid from 1 January 2023 onwards: "Copyright protection expires 50 years after the death of the original author (who may be the architect, sculptor, or artist of applied art) of a public artistic work of Vietnam. On January 1st of the following year (ie. January 1 of the 51st Year), freely-licensed images of the author's sculptures, buildings, applied arts, or monuments are now free and can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. The lack of commercial Freedom of Panorama is no longer relevant here for sovereign states with no formal FOP legal rights since the author's works are now copyright free."

OK: photographs and television broadcasts of plastic arts (sculptures, ceramics etc.), architecture, photographs, applied arts (pottery, furniture etc.) displayed at public places, uploaded on Wikimedia Commons until 31 December 2022. The new amendments are not retroactive. Applicable template: {{FoP-Vietnam}}

Examples of "plastic art" are finearts, graphic arts, sculpture, installation arts and similar forms of presentation, which are available in unique copies. Particularly, a work of graphic art may be presented in as many as 50 copies which are ordinarily numbered and bear the author’s signature.^{[Decree No. 22/2018 Article 13.1]} Examples of "applied art" are graphic designs (expression of logo, identification system and packaging labels), fashion designs, product designs, interior design and decoration.^{[Decree No. 22/2018 Article 13.2]} Under Law No. 50/2005/QH11 of November 29, 2005 amended by Law No. 36/2009/QH12 of June 19, 2009, "Use of published works in which permission and payment of royalties or remunerations are not required includes ... Photographing or televising of plastic art, architectural, photographic, applied-art works displayed at public places for the purpose of presenting images of these works."^{[36/2009 Article 25.1(h)]}

• See Commons:Village pump/Archive/2022/10#Updated copyright law of Vietnam and no more FOP? for more information on newly-restricted freedom of panorama in Vietnam. See also this discussion on Vietnamese Wikipedia.

Threshold of originality

There is currently no consensus regarding the threshold of originality for Vietnam. However, some Commons precedent is available here: Commons:Deletion requests/File:Logo Vinamilk (2023).png.

Expired relevant law

These are intellectual property relevant laws:

• Ordinance No. 38-L/CTN1 of December 02, 1994, on protection of copyright [Pháp lệnh Bảo hộ Quyền Tác giả 1994 38-L/CTN] (replaced by Resolution on enforcing the 1995 Civil Code [Nghị quyết thi hành Bộ luật dân sự 1995])
• Civil Code 1995, expired on December 31st 2006
• Decree 100/2006, Decree 85/2011 and Decree 22/2018 (replaced by Decree 17/2023)

See also

• Việt Nam
• Category:Vietnamese FOP cases
• Category:License tags of Vietnam

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