Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Bangladesh
 | This page requires updating because: New Copyright Act 2023 has been passed In doing so, you could add a timestamp to the page.
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Copyright rules: Bangladesh Shortcut: COM:BANGLADESH | |
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| Durations | |
|---|---|
| Standard | Life + 60 years |
| Photograph | Publish + 60 years |
| Anonymous | Publish + 60 years |
| Audiovisual | Publish + 60 years |
| Posthumous | Publish + 60 years |
| Government | Publish + 60 years |
| Other | |
| Freedom of panorama | No |
| Terms run to year end | Yes |
| Common licence tags | {{PD-Bangladesh}} |
| ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 | BGD |
| Treaties | |
| Berne convention | 4 May 1999 |
| Univ. Copyright Convention | 5 August 1975 |
| 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 Bangladesh relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Bangladesh must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Bangladesh 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 Bangladesh, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.
Background
Bengal was part of British India until it gained independence in 1947 as the eastern part of Pakistan. The country became independent of Pakistan in 1971, taking the name Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the Berne Convention since 4 May 1999.[1]
Governing laws
The first law on copyright was introduced in Bangladesh in 1914, based on the British Copyright law of 1911. This was replaced by the Copyright Ordinance 1962, which in turn was replaced by the Copyright Act 2000.[2] As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act, 2000 (Act No. 28 of 2000, as amended up to 2005) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Bangladesh.[1] WIPO holds the Bengali text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[3] The Copyright Office Bangladesh provides an English translation on their website.[4]
The 2000 law was replaced by the 2023 Copyright Act, which was passed by the Parliament on 11 September 2023.[5][6] The new law took effect on 18 September 2023, according to the website of the Ministry of Law. The Bangladesh Copyright Office provides the Bengali text of the copyright law in their website.[7]
- Retroactivity of the laws
The Copyright Act, 2000 repealed The Copyright Ordinance, 1962 (Ordinance no XXXIV of 1962).[28/2000 Section 105(1)] It was not retroactive: "Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of this Act in any work in which copyright did not subsist immediately before the commencement of this Act".[28/2000 Section 105(3)] The current Copyright Act 2023 is similarly not-retroactive as per Section 127.
General rules
Under the Copyright Act 2000,
- Copyright subsists in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (except a photograph) published within the lifetime of the author until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies. The reference to the author shall, in the case of a work of joint authorship, be construed as a reference to the author who died last.[28/2000 Section 24]
- With a literary, dramatic or musical work or an engraving, in which copyright subsists at the date of the death of the author, but which has not been published before that date, copyright subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work is first published.[28/2000 Section 25(1)]
- With a cinematograph film, copyright subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film is published.[28/2000 Section 26]
- With a sound recording, copyright subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the sound recording is published.[28/2000 Section 27]
- With a photograph, copyright subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the photograph is published.[28/2000 Section 28]
- With a computer programme, copyright subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the programme is published.[28/2000 Section 28A]
- With a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (except a photograph) which is published anonymously or pseudonymously, copyright subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work is first published.[28/2000 Section 29]
- Copyright in a Government work, where the Government is the first owner of the copyright, subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work is published.[28/2000 Section 29]
Copyright tags
See also: Commons:Copyright tags
- {{PD-Bangladesh}} - for photographs and films 60 years starting from the end of the year it was produced; for other works 60 years after the death of the author, or last-surviving author.
Freedom of panorama
See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama
Not OK for new uploads starting from 18 September 2023. The 2023 Copyright Act of Bangladesh does not provide a freedom of panorama provision that allows protected works of architecture and public art to be freely photographed and used for any purposes (including commercial uses).
The repealed 2000 Copyright Act provided a freedom of panorama provision under Section 72, items (19) and (20) that permitted pictorial reproductions of architecture, sculptures, and works of artistic craftsmanship ("other artistic work falling under section 36(c)") permanently visible in public spaces or in premises open to the public, in a similar model as the freedom of panorama provision of the United Kingdom. Other kinds of artistic works in public spaces were granted limited freedom of panorama under Section 72(21), which allowed incidental inclusion (not the main subject) of such works in films.
According to an article by the Daily Star, the new law removed all traces of British-influenced fair dealing provisions (probably including the FoP provision), replacing them with United States-inspired fair use provisions. It is claimed by the article that the new Bangladeshi copyright law applied the more flexible American fair use regime, so that works can now be used for any purposes, provided that only a small portion of the exploited work is used, and that any exploitation must be of "innocent commercial use", with both factors in accordance with the Berne three-step test.[8]
The 2023 Copyright Act is not retroactive as per Section 127; this means images of copyrighted architecture and monuments uploaded until 17 September 2023 are still 
OK to be hosted here.
See Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2024/09#Bangladesh for the discussion.
See also: Category:Bangladeshi FOP cases. Stamps
See also: Commons:Stamps
. No Bangladeshi stamps might be uploaded before 2032 because the first stamps were issued on 29 July 1971 and the copyright term for government works is 60 years from publication. The 1971 stamps might be uploaded in 2032.
See also
Citations
- ↑ a b Bangladesh Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights). WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization (2018). Retrieved on 2018-11-08.
- ↑ Mohammad Monirul Azam (2013). Copyright law in Bangladesh. Legal Steps. Retrieved on 2018-12-17.
- ↑ Copyright Act, 2000 (Act No. 28 of 2000, as amended up to 2005) (in Bengali). Bangladesh (2005). Retrieved on 2018-11-08.
- ↑ Copyright Act, 2000: Act No. XXVIII of 2000. Copyright Office Bangladesh (18 July 2000). Retrieved on 2018-12-17.
- ↑ (2023-09-11). "Copyright Bill 2023 passed in JS to widen scope for protection". The Business Standard. Retrieved on 2024-09-19.
- ↑ Rafman, Asifur (2023-07-22). "A law to protect intellectual rights". The Daily Star. Retrieved on 2024-09-19.
- ↑ Copyright Act (in Bengali). Bangladesh Copyright Office (2023).
- ↑ Gifari, Abuzar (2024-03-29). "Fair use of the copyrighted works in Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved on 2024-09-18.