Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Palau

Copyright rules: Palau Shortcut: COM:PALAU
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	First of create + 100 years, publish + 75 years
Audiovisual	First of create + 100 years, publish + 75 years
Collective	First of create + 100 years, publish + 75 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	No
Common licence tags	{{PD-Palau}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	PLW
Treaties
URAA restoration date‌*	none
*‌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 Palau relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Palau must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Palau 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 Palau, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The islands of today's Palau were made part of the Spanish East Indies in 1574. In 1899 Spain sold the islands to Germany, which administered them as part of German New Guinea. After World War I the islands became part of Japan's South Pacific Mandate. In 1947 Palau became part of the United States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The islands gained full sovereignty in 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Republic of Palau Copyright Act of 2003 as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Palau. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. In 2018 WIPO did not list Palau as a member of the Berne Convention or the World Trade Organization.

General rules

According to the Republic of Palau Copyright Act of 2003,

• Copyright in a work created on or after the effective date of this Act exists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 50 years after the author's death.^{[2003 Sec.16(a)]}
• Copyright in a work created before the effective date of this Act shall begin on the effective date of this Act and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 50 years after the author's death.^{[2003 Sec.16(a)]}
• In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire, the copyright endures for a term consisting of the life of the last surviving author and 50 years after such last surviving author's death.^{[2003 Sec.16(b)]}
• In the case of an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, copyright endures for a term of 75 years from the year of its first publication, or a term of 100 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.^{[2003 Sec.16(c)]}
• In the case of an audiovisual work or collective work, the copyright endures for a term of 75 years from the year of its first publication, or 100 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.^{[2003 Sec.16(d)]}

Not protected

Shortcut

• COM:NOP Palau

See also: Commons:Unprotected works

According to the Republic of Palau Copyright Act of 2003, in no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to the following:^{[2003 Sec.3(b)]}

• any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work;
• official public legislative, administrative or legal texts, or any official translations thereof, and
• speeches, lectures, addresses, and other oral works given by a government official in his or her official capacity.

Treaty status

Per U.S. Circ. 38a, the following countries are not participants in the Berne Convention or Universal Copyright Convention and there is no presidential proclamation restoring U.S. copyright protection to works of these countries on the basis of reciprocal treatment of the works of U.S. nationals or domiciliaries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Marshall Islands, Palau, Somalia, Somaliland, and South Sudan. As such, works published by citizens of these countries in these countries are usually not subject to copyright protection outside of these countries. Hence, such works may be in the public domain in most other countries worldwide. However: Works published in these countries by citizens or permanent residents of other countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention or any other treaty on copyright will still be protected in their home country and internationally as well as locally by local copyright law (if it exists). Similarly, works published outside of these countries within 30 days of publication within these countries will also usually be subject to protection in the foreign country of publication. When works are subject to copyright outside of these countries, the term of such copyright protection may exceed the term of copyright inside them. Unpublished works from these countries may be fully copyrighted. A work from one of these countries may become copyrighted in the United States under the URAA if the work's home country enters a copyright treaty or agreement with the United States and the work is still under copyright in its home country. The Republic of Palau has enacted the Copyright Act of 2003 which came into force on 26 November 2003.

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Palau

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

 Not OK the listed exceptions or limitations on copyright from Sections 7 to 13 do not include a provision that allows commercial exploitations of images of architectural or artistic works situated in public places.

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