Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Cyprus

Copyright rules: Cyprus Shortcut: COM:CYPRUS
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Photograph	Life + 70 years
Audiovisual	Life + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	CYP
Treaties
Berne convention	16 August 1960
WTO member	30 July 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	4 November 2003
*‌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 Cyprus relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Cyprus must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Cyprus 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 Cyprus, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Cyprus was transferred from the Ottoman Empire to British administration in 1878, and was annexed by Britain in 1914. The island gained independence in 1960. Northern Cyprus became autonomous in 1974 with the support of Turkey, and in 1983 declared independence, but has not gained international recognition.

Cyprus came under the Berne Convention through the United Kingdom as of 1 October 1931. The Republic of Cyprus declared continued application of the Berne Convention on 24 February 1964, effective from independence on 16 August 1960. Cyprus joined the World Trade Organization as of 30 July 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 4 November 2003.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Copyright Laws 1976 to 1993 (Law No. 59 of December 3, 1976, as amended by Law No. 18(I), 1993) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Cyprus. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

This law was modified in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007. As of 2018 the University of Cyprus Library cited Law no. 59/76 regarding Intellectual Property Rights (as modified by Laws N.63/77, N.18(I)/93, N.54(I)/99, N.12(I)/2001), N.128(I)/2002 and N.128(I)/2004) as the source of rules on Intellectual Property Rights.

General rules

In December 2018 the University of Cyprus Library gave durations as:

• Scientific, literary, music and artistic works: rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death.
• Motion pictures: rights expire 70 years after the death of the last survivor of: producer, main director, scriptwriter, dialogues writer and composer of music composed specifically for use in the motion picture.
• Photographs: rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death.
• Sound recordings: rights expire 50 years after the date of recording, or 50 years from the date it is published or presented if that happens within 50 years of creation.
• Broadcasts: rights expire 50 years after the date of broadcasting
• Publication of previously unpublished works: rights expire 25 years from the date the work is published.

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Cyprus

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK {{FoP-Cyprus}}

The WIPO version of Copyright Laws 1976 to 1993, section 7(2), includes exception (c): "the reproduction and distribution of copies of any artistic work permanently situated in a place where it may be viewed by the public;"

See also

• Κύπρος - Kıbrıs
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Northern Cyprus