Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Niger

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Copyright rules: Niger Shortcut: COM:NIGER
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 70 years
Collective	Create/publish + 70 years
Applied art	Create + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Niger}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	NER
Treaties
Berne convention	2 May 1962
Bangui Agreement	8 February 1982
WTO member	13 December 1996
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 Niger relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Niger must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Niger 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 Niger, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The French began colonization efforts in what is now Niger in the late 19th century, and had eliminated all resistance by 1922. Niger became an autonomous state in 1958 and acquired full independence on 3 August 1960.

Niger has been a member of the Berne Convention since 2 May 1962, the Bangui Agreement since 8 February 1982 and the World Trade Organization since 13 December 1996.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Decree No. 93-027 of March 30, 1993, on Copyright, Neighbouring Rights and Folklore as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Niger. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. This law replaced the Law No. 57-298, of March 11, 1957, which was essentially the 1957 copyright law of France.

On December 23, 2010, Ordinance No. 2010-95, a new copyright law, repealed the 1993 law.

General rules

Under the Ordinance No. 2010-95,

• Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the economic rights in a work shall be protected during the lifetime of the author and for 70 years after his death.^{[2010-95 Article 28]}
• Works of joint authorship are protected for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.^{[2010-95 Article 29]}
• The economic rights in a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym shall be protected until the expiry of a period of 70 years as from the date on which such work has been lawfully published for the first time.^{[2010-95 Article 30]}
• The economic rights in a collective work or in an audiovisual work shall be protected until the expiry of a period of 70 years after such a work has been lawfully made accessible to the public or, failing such an event occurring during the period of 70 years as from the making of the work, 70 years as from its making.^{[2010-95 Article 31]}
• The economic rights in a work of applied art shall be protected until the expiry of a period of 25 years as from the making of such work.^{[2010-95 Article 32]}

In the above, each time limit shall expire at the end of the calendar year during which it would normally lapse.^{[2010-95 Article 33]}

Previous term

Under the Decree No. 93-027 of March 30, 1993 on Copyright, Neighbouring Rights and Folklore,

• Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the economic rights in a work shall be protected during the lifetime of the author and for 50 years after his death.^{[93-027/1993 Article 22(1)]}
• The economic rights in a work of joint authorship shall be protected during the lifetime of the last surviving author and for 50 years after his death.^{[93-027/1993 Article 23]}
• The economic rights in a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym shall be protected until the expiry of a period of 50 years as from the date on which such work has been lawfully published for the first time.^{[93-027/1993 Article 24]}
• The economic rights in a collective work or in an audiovisual work shall be protected until the expiry of a period of 50 years after such a work has been lawfully made accessible to the public or, failing such an event occurring during the period of 50 years as from the making of the work, 50 years as from its making.^{[93-027/1993 Article 25]}
• The economic rights in a work of applied art shall be protected until the expiry of a period of 25 years as from the making of such work.^{[93-027/1993 Article 26]}

In the above, each time limit shall expire at the end of the calendar year during which it would normally lapse.^{[93-027/1993 Article 27]}

The 2010 law did not revive expired copyrights, so works made by authors who died prior to 1960 are in the public domain.^{[2010-95 Article 104]}

Expressions of folklore: not free

See also: Commons:Paying public domain

"Traditional cultural expressions" means any productions created within the national territory by national ethnic communities, handed down from generation to generation, and constituting one of the fundamental elements of the traditional cultural heritage of a nation.^{[2010-95 Article 2]} "Expressions of folklore" means any productions consisting of characteristic elements of the traditional artistic heritage developed and maintained by a community or by individuals reflecting the traditional artistic expectations of such a community, in particular verbal expressions, such as folk tales, folk poetry and riddles; musical expressions, such as folk songs and instrumental music; expressions by actions, such as folk dances, plays and artistic forms of rituals; tangible expressions, such as productions of folk art, in particular, drawings, paintings, carvings, sculptures, pottery, terracotta, mosaic, woodwork, metalware, jewelry, basket weaving, needlework, textiles, carpets, costumes; musical instruments; architectural forms.^{[93-027/1993 Article 54(2)]}

The expressions of folklore developed and maintained in Niger shall be protected against unlawful exploitation and other prejudicial actions.^{[93-027/1993 Article 55]} The following utilizations of the expressions of folklore shall be subject to authorization by the Copyright Office of Niger when they are made both with gainful intent and outside their traditional or customary context: any publication, reproduction and any distribution of copies of expressions of folklore; any public recitation or performance, any transmission by wireless means or by wire, and any other form of communication to the public, of expressions of folklore.^{[93-027/1993 Article 56]} Where the Copyright Office of Niger grants authorization, it shall fix the amount of and collect fees. The fees collected shall be used for the purpose of promoting or safeguarding Nigerien culture.^{[93-027/1993 Article 57 (2)]}

The law permits utilization of objects containing the expressions of folklore which are permanently located in a place where they can be viewed by the public, if the utilization consists in including their image in a photograph, a film or television broadcast.^{[93-027/1993 Article 58(ii)]}

Copyright tags

Shortcut

• COM:TAG Niger

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD-Niger}} – for works made in Niger whose copyright has expired
• {{PD-NigerienGov}} – for works created by the Nigerien government that do not fall under copyright protection.

Currency

Shortcut

• COM:CUR Niger

See also: Commons:Currency

 Unsure West African CFA franc used in Niger has close ties to France. French Cour de Cassation ruled in 2002 that franc is not covered by Copyright Law, but it is not known if it also applies to West African CFA franc.

See also: COM:CUR France

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Niger

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

 Not OK in both the repealed 1993 law and the current 2010 law. Non-commercial use only, but non-commercial licenses are not allowed on Wikimedia Commons.

According to the Ordinance No. 2010-95:

• Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 9, it is permitted, without the author's permission and without payment of remuneration, to reproduce, broadcast or communicate to the public an image of a work of architecture, a work of fine arts, a photographic work and a work of applied arts which is permanently located in a place open to the public, unless the image of the work is the principal subject of such reproduction, broadcast or communication and if it is used for commercial purposes.^{[2010-95 Article 16]}

With regards to the works of traditional cultural heritage, these can only be photographed or videographed for the purpose of showcasing their intended uses in the context of cultural heritage of Niger (this denies other uses that are not related to the Nigerien culture, including most commercial uses outside the country). But, see also Commons:Paying public domain for the inapplicability of this cultural heritage restriction in the United States.

• The use of objects containing expressions of traditional cultural heritage, permanently located in a place where they can be seen by the public, if such use consists of showing their use in a film, photograph or television broadcast.^{[2010-95 Article 76 (ii)]}

The now-repealed Decree No. 93-027 of March 30, 1993, on Copyright, Neighbouring Rights and Folklore contained the same, restrictive provisions: non-commercial FoP was found at Article 15, and rule on the limited use of traditional cultural heritage was found at Article 58(ii).

See also: Category:Nigerien 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