Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Argentina

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

Background

Argentina has been an independent state since the early 19th century.

Argentina has been a member of the Universal Copyright Convention since 13 February 1958, the Berne Convention since 10 June 1967, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 6 March 2002.[1]

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 11.723 of September 28, 1933, on Legal Intellectual Property Regime (Copyright Law, as amended up to Law No. 26.570 of November 25, 2009) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Argentina.[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[2]

General rules

According to Law No. 11.723 as amended up to Law No. 26.570 of November 25, 2009,

  • Ownership of intellectual works shall fall to the authors thereof during their lifetime, and to their heirs or legal successors for 70 years starting from January 1 of the year following the author's death.[11.723/2009 Article 5]
  • With works of collaboration, this term shall begin from January 1 of the year following the death of the last collaborating party.[11.723/2009 Article 5]
  • For posthumous works, the 70-year term shall begin from January 1 of the year following the death of the author.[11.723/2009 Article 5]
  • Ownership of intellectual performances fixed on phonograms shall fall to the performers for the period of 70 years starting from January 1 of the year following publication.[11.723/2009 Article 5bis]
  • The ownership of anonymous intellectual works belonging to institutions, corporations or legal persons shall last for 50 years from the date of publication of those works.[11.723/2009 Article 8]
  • For photographic works, the duration of the right of ownership shall be 20 years from the date of first publication.[11.723/2009 Article 34]
    • The Berne convention also requires protection for at least 25 years from creation of artistic photographs and works of applied art.[11.723/2009 Article 7(4)]
  • For cinematographic works, the right of ownership shall be 50 years from the death of the last of the collaborators listed in Article 20 of this Law.[11.723/2009 Article 34]

Historical changes in durations

  • The original copyright law of Argentina (Ley 11.723) from September 30, 1933 had a general copyright term of 30 years p.m.a.
  • In 1957, this was increased to 50 years p.m.a. by Decreto-Ley 12.063/57, published in the Boletin Oficial on October 11, 1957.
  • In 1997, the term was again increased to 70 years p.m.a. by Ley 24.870, published in the Boletin Oficial on September 16, 1997. This extension to 70 years re-copyrighted works on which the earlier 50-year term had already expired, but the new 70-year term had not expired yet (see Ley 24.870, or art. 84 of the current Argentine copyright law).
  • For photographic works the duration of copyright is twenty years from the date of the first publication (article 34 of last version of 11723 law, updated (August 13, 1998) by law 24249 art 1).[3]

Copyright tags

Shortcut

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

Currency

See also: Commons:Currency

 Not OK. There is no exception for currency in the Argentine copyright law.

Freedom of panorama

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

Argentina has no "freedom of panorama" provision in its copyright law. At least some think there is de facto freedom of panorama in Argentina regarding buildings:

  • It is uncontroversially accepted that buildings can be reproduced by paintings or photographs, without this reproduction infringing copyright.
  • Se ha admitido pacificamente que los edificios puedan ser reproducidos mediante pinturas o fotografías, sin estimarse que esta reproducción lesione los derechos de autor. - Dr. Emery, Miguel Angel (professor of Intellectual property law in Argentina)[4]

In accordance with this discussion from July 2010, this de facto freedom of panorama for architecture in Argentina is acceptable on Wikimedia Commons:

  • OK for buildings {{FoP-Argentina}}
  •  Not OK for sculpture and other works

As recent as 2022, this de facto freedom of panorama for Argentine architecture is brought to some skepticism, see these relevant discussions from December 2022 and from September 2023.

Infojustice.org tells of a proposal in 2017 to add more limitations/exceptions for Law No. 11.723, one of which would have been a freedom of panorama provision. Instead, most of the suggested exceptions were abolished, and the only surviving exception to be passed concerns free uses of works for persons with disabilities (PWDs), as proven by the resulting amendment law, Law No. 27.588 of November 11, 2020, on Amendments to Law No. 11.723 (WIPO copy).

Stamps

See also: Commons:Stamps

Copyrighted The basic copyright law of Argentina is Law No. 11.723 of September 28, 1933, on Legal Intellectual Property Regime (Copyright Law, as last amended by Law No. 26.570 of November 25, 2009). There is no mention of stamps or official works in the law, but Article 8 (as translated) says that "The ownership of anonymous intellectual works belonging to institutions, corporations or legal persons shall last for 50 years from the date of publication of those works." The government of Argentina is an institution and not a natural person so assume that where a stamp is anonymous, it is out of copyright after 50 years. Use {{PD-AR-Anonymous}} where applicable. If the designer of the stamp is shown, the stamp will remain in copyright for seventy years after death.

Threshold of originality

See also: Commons:Threshold of originality

The creations are subject to a threshold of originality that distinguishes them from others by giving their personal imprint.[5]

See also

Citations

  1. a b Argentina Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights). WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization (2018). Retrieved on 2018-11-08.
  2. Law No. 11.723 of September 28, 1933, on Legal Intellectual Property Regime (Copyright Law, as amended up to Law No. 26.570 of November 25, 2009). Argentina (2009). Retrieved on 2018-11-08.
  3. Art. 34 Law 11723 del September 28, 1933, as modified by Ley 24870 Septiembre 11, 1997, as amended by Law 25006 B.O. 13/8/1998.
  4. Emery, Miguel Angel (1999) Propiedad Intelectual (4th ed.), Astrea Editors, p. 40
  5. Cerlalc (25 July 2007). La obra. Originalidad. Marco conceptual Existencia del derecho (in Spanish). Retrieved on 2021-10-22.
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