Help:Public domain
This page helps users determine whether a given work is in the public domain, and which template to use.
Criteria for U.S. copyright
These tables summarise the conditions a work must meet in order to be safely considered public domain in the United States.[1][2]
Not public domain
Conditions | Date PD |
---|---|
unpublished works created before 1978 and published 1977–2003 | 2048–2073[a] |
Public domain
Corporate authorship
'Corporate authorship' refers to works written for hire or in the name of a corporation.
Date of publication | Conditions | Public domain | Template |
---|---|---|---|
none. | unpublished | Works created 120+ years ago (1904) | {{PD-US-unpublished}} |
1929 through 1977 |
|
works created 120+ years ago (1904) or published 95+ years ago (1929), whichever is earliest. | none. |
1978–1 March 1989 |
|
works created 120+ years ago (1904) or published 95+ years ago (1929), whichever is earliest. | none. |
After 1 March 1989 | none. | works created 120+ years ago (1904) or published over 95+ years ago (1929), whichever is earliest. | none. |
Unpublished works
An unpublished work is one that has never been published in any form, or which was first published after 2003 but created before 1935.
- Note for the European Union: If a previously unpublished work is published the first time ("editio princeps") later than 70 years after the death of the author, then it is no more public domain but it is granted a copyright for 25 years (Council Directive 93/98/EEC, see here)
Type of work | What is public domain | Template |
---|---|---|
|
works of authors who died 70+ years ago (1954) | {{PD-US-unpublished}} |
|
Works created 120+ years ago (1904) | {{PD-US-unpublished}} |
Published in the United States
Date of publication | Condition[3] | What is public domain | Template |
---|---|---|---|
Before 1929 | none. | all works. | {{PD-US-expired}} |
1929–1963 | with notice, no renewal[b] | all works. | {{PD-US-not renewed}} |
1929–1963 | with notice and renewal[b] | Works published 95+ years ago (1929) | none. |
1929–1977 | no copyright notice | all works. | {{PD-US-no notice}} |
1964–1977 | with notice | Works published 95+ years ago (1929) | none. |
1978–1 March 1989 | no notice or subsequent registration | all works. | none. |
1978–1 March 1989 |
|
works of authors who died 70+ years ago (1954) | none. |
After 1 March 1989 | none. | works of authors who died 70+ years ago (1954) | |
Any time | prepared by an on-duty officer or employee of the United States Federal Government | all works. | {{PD-USGov}} |
Any time | official documents of the United Nations[4] | Official records, UN documents issued with a UN symbol, and not-for-sale public information materials designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities | {{PD-UN}} |
Published outside the United States
Note: Foreign works published after 1928 are likely to be still under copyright in the US because of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, even if they briefly entered public domain before the agreement[5].
Date of publication | Condition | What is public domain | Template |
---|---|---|---|
Before 1 July 1909 | none. | all works. | {{PD-US-expired}} |
1 July 1909–1928 | in compliance with US formalities | all works. | {{PD-US-expired}} |
1929–1977 | public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996 | all works. | {{PD-1996}} |
After 1 January 1978 | copyright in its home country | works by authors who died 95+ years ago (1929) |
Published in Greater China
Condition | What is public domain | Template |
---|---|---|
Works ineligible for copyright in Mainland China | Laws; regulations; resolutions, decisions and orders of State organs; other documents of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature; and their official translations. | {{PD-PRC-exempt}} |
Official works of Macao | Official works, in particular the texts of treaties, laws and regulations and those of reports or decisions by authorities of any kind, and translations thereof. | {{PD-MacaoGov}} |
Works ineligible for copyright in Taiwan | The constitution, acts, regulations, official documents (including proclamations, text of speeches, news releases, and other documents prepared by civil servants in the course of carrying out their duties), and their translations and compilations by central or local government agencies. | {{PD-ROC-exempt}} |
Miscellaneous
Condition | What is public domain | Template |
---|---|---|
No creative content | Some works (vague) | {{PD-ineligible}} |
Copyright released by holder | All works | {{PD-release}} |
Copyright terms by country
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/System-search.svg/25px-System-search.svg.png)
These tables outline the estimated length of time of copyright per country.[6][7][8] Laws regarding anonymous works, corporate-authored works, or non-literary works vary per country. This is not intended to be used as a legal guideline since it cannot reflect the complexity of the copyright laws in effect at any one time and since copyright laws are changing continuously; this section simply provides a useful summary as part of a more in-depth research.
Country | Copyright length |
---|---|
Albania | life + 70 |
Algeria | life + 50 |
Andorra | life + 70 |
Angola | life + 50 |
Argentina | life + 70 |
Armenia | life + 50 |
Aruba | life + 50 |
Australia | Government works [9] Works made, or first published, by a federal, state or territory government:
Non-government works[9]
Artistic works (not engravings or photographs):
Photographs:
|
Austria | life + 70 |
Azerbaijan | life + 50 |
Bahrain | life + 50 |
Bangladesh | life + 50 |
Barbados | life + 50 |
Belarus | life + 50 |
Belgium | life + 70 |
Belize | life + 50 |
Benin | life + 50 |
Bhutan | life + 50 |
Bolivia | life + 50 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | life + 70 |
Brazil |
|
Brunei | life + 50 |
Bulgaria | life + 70 |
Burkina Faso | life + 50 |
Burundi | life + 50 |
Cambodia | life + 50 |
Cameroon | life + 50 |
Canada | life + 50 |
Cape Verde | life + 50 |
Chile | life + 50 |
China | life + 50 |
Colombia | life + 80; publication + 80 for collective, anonymous and cinematic works; publication + 70 when its owner is a legal entity or an official body or any institution under government public law. |
Costa Rica | life + 70 |
Côte d'Ivoire | life + 99 |
Croatia | life + 70 (before 27 of July 1999 span of author rights in Croatia extended 50 years after authors death, after that date Croatia accepted EU laws ;70 years of author rights after authors death, works of anybody who died before 31st of December 1948, or on that day, are in PD.) |
Cuba | life + 50 |
Czech Republic | life + 70 |
Denmark |
|
Djibouti | life + 25 |
Dominica | life + 70 |
Dominican Republic | life + 50 |
Ecuador | life + 70 |
Egypt | life + 50 |
El Salvador | life + 50 |
Estonia | life + 70 |
European Union | life + 70 |
Fiji | life + 50 |
Finland | life + 70 |
France | life + 70. For collective works, publication + 70.[15] |
Georgia | life + 70 |
Germany | life + 70 |
Ghana | life + 70 |
Greece | life + 70 |
Guatemala | life + 75 |
Honduras | life + 75 |
Hong Kong | life + 50 |
Hungary | life + 70 |
Iceland | life + 70 |
India | life + 60 for literary or musical works or artistic works, publication + 60 for others.[16] |
Indonesia | life + 50 |
Iran | life + 30 |
Iraq | life + 50 (imposed by occupying provisional authority) |
Ireland | life + 70 |
Israel | life + 70 |
Italy | life + 70 |
Jamaica | life + 50 |
Japan | life + 70 |
Jordan | life + 50 |
Kazakhstan | life + 50 |
Kenya | life + 50 |
Korea (South) | life + 50 (death before 1963) life + 70 (died in or after 1963) |
Kuwait | life + 50 |
Kyrgyzstan | life + 50 |
Latvia | life + 70 |
Lebanon | life + 50 |
Libya | life + 25, with 50-year minimum (as of 1968; may have changed since) |
Liechtenstein | life + 70 |
Lithuania | life + 70 |
Luxembourg | life + 70 |
Macao | life + 50 for known authors; first publication + 50 for anonymous |
Madagascar | life + 70 |
Malaysia | life + 50 |
Maldives | none |
Mali | life + 50 |
Malta | life + 70 |
Marshal Islands | none |
Mauritius | life + 50 |
Mexico | life + 100 |
Moldova | life + 50 |
Mongolia | life + 50 |
Montenegro | life + 70 |
Morocco |
|
Namibia | life + 50 |
The Netherlands | life + 70 |
New Zealand | life + 50 |
Nicaragua | life + 70 |
Niger | life + 50 |
Nigeria | Life + 70 |
Norway | life + 70 |
Oman | life + 50 |
Pakistan | life + 50 |
Palau | life + 50 |
Panama | life + 50 |
Papua New Guinea | life + 50 |
Paraguay | life + 70 |
Peru |
|
Philippines | life + 50 |
Poland | Life + 70 |
Qatar | life + 50 |
Romania | life + 70 |
Russia | life + 70 (life + 50 for works whose copyright expired before |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | life + 50 |
Samoa | Life + 75 |
Saudi Arabia | life + 50 |
Serbia | life + 70 |
Seychelles | life + 25 |
Singapore | life + 70 |
Slovakia | life + 70 |
Slovenia | life + 70 |
Solomon Islands | life + 50 |
South Africa | life + 50 |
Spain | life + 80 (before 1987); life + 70 (after 1987) |
Sudan | life + 50 |
Eswatini | life + 50 |
Sweden | life + 70 |
Switzerland | life + 70 |
Syria | life + 50 |
Taiwan | life + 50 |
Tajikistan | life + 50 |
Tanzania | life + 50 |
Thailand | life + 50 |
Togo | life + 50 |
Tonga | life + 50 |
Trinidad and Tobago | life + 50 |
Tunisia | life + 50 |
Turkey | life + 70 |
United Arab Emirates | life + 50 |
United Kingdom | life + 70 |
United States | expired for works published before 1929; 28 or 95 years for works copyrighted 1929–1963; 95 years for works copyrighted 1964–1977; thereafter life+70. |
Uruguay | life + 50 |
Uzbekistan | life + 50 |
Venezuela | life + 60 |
Vietnam | life + 50 |
Yemen | life + 30 |
Zambia | life + 50 |
Zimbabwe | life + 50 |
See also
- Wikisource's copyright policy
- Copyright tags
- COM:EIC#Copy - Copyright entry in the Editor's index to Commons
Notes
Footnotes
- ^a These works have copyright terms extending 70 years beyond the author's life, or until 31 December 2047 (whichever is greater).
- ^b The United States Copyright renewal records search engine is a useful tool for determining renewal status.
References
- ↑ The criteria tables are primarily derived from the Cornell Copyright Information Center's Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States chart, which is subject to the following: © 2004-2019 Peter B. Hirtle. Last updated 07 February 2019. Use of this chart is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
- ↑ Copyright durations, Bromberg and Sunstein, LLP
- ↑ Circular 15a from the United States Copyright Office
- ↑ As Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement for the United Nations, Public Law 80-357 applies the United States laws to the United Nations Headquarters, works published there are copyrighted in the same way as other works published in the United States.
- ↑ Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). Circular 38b (Portable Document Format), Library of Congress Copyright Office
- ↑ How Can I Tell Whether a Book Can Go Online?, Online Books Page
- ↑ Summary of copyright terms The Online Books Page
- ↑ Collection of National Copyright Laws, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation
- ↑ a b Duration of copyright. Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (April 2018). Retrieved on 4 August 2021.
- ↑ Law No. 9610 of February 19, 1998, on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, article 41
- ↑ Law No. 9610 of February 19, 1998, on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, article 43
- ↑ Law No. 9610 of February 19, 1998, on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, article 44
- ↑ Law No. 9610 of February 19, 1998, on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, article 96
- ↑ Law No. 9610 of February 19, 1998, on Copyright and Neighboring Rights, article 8
- ↑ France (11 May 2017), “III Durée de la protection”, in Code de la propriété intellectuelle[1]
- ↑ A Hand Book of Copyright Law, Government of India Ministry of Human Resource Development
- ↑ Copyright Law of 2000 as amended in 2006 : Loi n° 2-00 de 2000 telle que modifiée et complétée par la loi n° 34-05 de 2006, article 25
- ↑ Copyright Law of 2000 as amended in 2006 : Loi n° 2-00 de 2000 telle que modifiée et complétée par la loi n° 34-05 de 2006, article 27
- ↑ Copyright Law of 2000 as amended in 2006 : Loi n° 2-00 de 2000 telle que modifiée et complétée par la loi n° 34-05 de 2006, article 28. Ownership of rights in audiovisual works is regulated by the article 36.
- ↑ a b c d Old Copyright Law (Law No. 13714) (in Spanish). Congress of Peru (1961). Retrieved on 2020-05-19.
- ↑ copyright.ru (Russian)