Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Estonia

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Copyright rules: Estonia
Shortcut: COM:ESTONIA
Flag of Estonia
Map of Estonia
Durations
Standard Life + 70 years
Anonymous Publish + 70 years
Audiovisual Life + 70 years
Collective Publish + 70 years
Other
Terms run to year end Yes
Common licence tags {{PD-old-auto}}
{{PD-EE-exempt}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 EST
Treaties
Berne convention 26 October 1994
WTO member 13 November 1999
URAA restoration date‌* 1 January 1996
WIPO treaty 14 March 2010
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 1926 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Estonia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Estonia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Estonia 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 Estonia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Estonia declared independence from Russia on 24 February 1918.

  • In 1940, the country was annexed and occupied by the Soviet Union, which "incorporated" into the USSR as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic on 21 July 1940.
  • Estonia was occupied by Germany between 1941 and 1944.
  • For a few days after the German forces left, Estonia was free.
  • The country was then reoccupied by the Soviet Union until 1991. The Soviet occupation was not recognised by the United States and a number of other Western countries.

Estonia restored its independence on 20 August 1991.

Estonia has been a member of the Berne Convention since 26 October 1994, the World Trade Organization since 13 November 1999 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 14 March 2010.[1]

As of 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act of 11 November 1992 (consolidated text of February 1, 2017) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Estonia.[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[2] The Estonian Ministry of Justice provides the current consolidated text in Estonian.[3] They also provide a consolidated English translation.[4]

General rules

Under the Copyright Act of 11 November 1992 (consolidated text of February 1, 2017),

  • The term of protection of copyright is the life of the author and 70 years after his or her death except in the cases prescribed in §§39–42 of this Act.[1992/2017 §38(1)]
  • The term of protection of copyright in a work created by two or more persons as a result of their joint creative activity is the life of the last surviving author and 70 years after his or her death.[1992/2017 §39]
  • In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works where the author does not become known, the term of protection of copyright shall run for 70 years after the work is lawfully made available to the public.[1992/2017 §40]
  • The term of protection of copyright in a collective work or work created in the execution of duties runs for 70 years after the work is lawfully made available to the public.[1992/2017 §41(1)]
  • The term of protection of copyright in an audiovisual work expires 70 years after the death of the last surviving author (director, script writer, author of dialogue, author of a musical work specifically created for use in the audiovisual work).[1992/2017 §41(1.1)]
  • If a collective work, work created in the execution of duties or audiovisual work is not made available to the public 50 years after creation, the term of protection of copyright expires 70 years after the creation of the work.[1992/2017 §41(2)]

The above terms begin on 1 January of the year following the year of the death of the author, year when the work was lawfully made available to the public or year of creation of the work, as applicable.[1992/2017 §43]

Collective works

A collective work is a work which consists of contributions of different authors which are united into an integral whole by a natural or a legal person on the initiative and under the management of this person and which is published under the name of this natural or legal person (works of reference, collections of scientific works, newspapers, journals and other periodicals or serials, etc.).[1992/2017 §31(1)] Copyright in a collective work shall belong to the person on whose initiative and under whose management the work was created and under whose name it was published unless otherwise prescribed by contract.[1992/2017 §31(2)] The authors of the works included in a collective work (contributions) shall enjoy copyright in their works and they may use their works independently unless otherwise determined by contract. Authors of contributions are not deemed to be joint authors or co-authors.[1992/2017 §31(3)]

Not protected

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See also: Commons:Unprotected works

Under the Copyright Act of 11 November 1992 (consolidated text of February 1, 2017), copyright does not apply to ideas, images, notions, theories, processes, systems, methods, concepts, principles, discoveries, inventions, and other results of intellectual activities which are described, explained or expressed in any other manner in a work; works of folklore; legislation and administrative documents (acts, decrees, regulations, statutes, instructions, directives) and official translations thereof; court decisions and official translations thereof; official symbols of the state and insignia of organisations (flags, coats of arms, orders, medals, badges, etc.); news of the day; facts and data; ideas and principles which underlie any element of a computer program, including those which underlie its user interfaces.[1992/2017 §5]

Copyright tags

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See also: Commons:Copyright tags

  • {{PD-EE-exempt}} – copyright does not apply to works of folklore, legislation and administrative documents, court decisions and official translations thereof; official symbols of the state and insignia of organizations. Freedom of panorama in Estonia is restricted to non-commercial uses only, or to overview photos.

Freedom of panorama

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See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svg Not OK, only non-commercial use allowed if the work is the main subject {{FoP-Estonia}}

Under the Copyright Act of 11 November 1992 (consolidated text of February 1, 2017): It is permitted to reproduce works of architecture, works of visual art, works of applied art or photographic works which are permanently located in places open to the public, without the authorisation of the author and without payment of remuneration, by any means except for mechanical contact copying, and to communicate such reproductions of works to the public except if the work is the main subject of the reproduction and it is intended to be used for direct commercial purposes. If the work specified in this section carries the name of its author, it shall be indicated in communicating the reproduction to the public.[1992/2017 §20]

Currency

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See also: Commons:Currency

OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg OK. Estonian currency was removed from the public domain in 2000.[5] However, Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank), which holds the copyright to the design of the currency, has allowed reproduction under certain terms:

  • Banknotes: As long as reproductions in advertising or illustrations cannot be mistaken for genuine banknotes they can be used without prior authorisation of the Bank of Estonia. Same kind of restrictions apply to reproductions of Estonian kroon banknotes as do to euro banknotes.[6]
  • Coins: Reproduction in a non-relief (drawings, paintings, films) format is authorised, provided they are not detrimental to the image of the Estonian kroon.

Please use {{EEK banknote}} or {{EEK coin}} for Estonian currency images.

See also

Citations

  1. ↑ a b Estonia Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights). WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization (2018). Retrieved on 2018-11-11.
  2. ↑ Copyright Act (consolidated text of February 1, 2017). Estonia (2017). Retrieved on 2018-11-11.
  3. ↑ Autoriõiguse seadus (in Estonian). Justiitsministeerium. Retrieved on 2019-02-10.
  4. ↑ Copyright Act. Ministry of Justice. Retrieved on 2019-02-10.
  5. ↑ Autoriõiguse seaduse muutmise seadus (Copyright Act Amendment Act) (in Estonian) (27 September 2000).
  6. ↑ Copy of e-mail was forwarded to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org on 14 July 2008. (ticket:2008071410045309)
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
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