Commons talk:Copyright rules by territory/American Samoa

Really confused

@Aymatth2: The CRT/US says that "U.S. copyright law applies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, but does not apply in American Samoa." But on this page: "It seems reasonable to assume that this includes copyright laws." which one is correct, if later then according to what Act? --Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 04:09, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

@Liuxinyu970226: Good catch. When I started this stub I just assumed American Samoa was the same as all the other territories. I dug around a bit and have added some sources, but cannot find anything specific on copyright laws. The population is about 55,000. It is quite possible that the territory has the right to define its own copyright laws but has not got round to it. Aymatth2 (talk) 13:06, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

@Aymatth2@Liuxinyu970226 at least as per one user, the entire policy page is incorrect. See Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2024/02#US copyright law DOES protect the work of American Samoans. JWilz12345 (Talk|Contrib's.) 15:59, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

It is still unclear to me.

1. This source says "American Samoans are considered U.S. nationals, which means they are entitled to some rights and protections under U.S. law, but they are not considered U.S. citizens."
2. This source says "For purposes of section 411, a work is a “United States work” only if...
   • in the case of a published work, the work is first published (A) in the United States ...
   • in the case of an unpublished work, all the authors of the work are nationals, domiciliaries, or habitual residents of the United States, or, in the case of an unpublished audiovisual work, all the authors are legal entities with headquarters in the United States"
3. This source (p21) says "U.S. federal copyright law applies in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands but not in American Samoa."

The second and third sources seem to contradict each other. American Samoa is in the United States, even though it is an unincorporated and unorganized territory, and American Samoas are nationals. The second source therefore implies that works published in American Samoa, or unpublished works made by American Samoans are considered US works, with US copyright protection. But the third source explictly says that US copyright law does not apply in American Samoa. Aymatth2 (talk) 16:53, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

I suspect this has something to do with the distinction made in the village pump comment between statutory and common law copyright. Alternatively (or in addition), it could be the case, as quoted in the article, that "The Federal copyright laws... do not apply within American Samoa..., but American Samoans can obtain copyright protection elsewhere in the United States." Zoozaz1 (talk) 16:58, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

Copyright is a fairly recent concept, from the 1710 Statute of Anne. It is unlikely to exist in Samoan common law. I would normally think the precautionary principle applies: when in doubt, assume the worst case. But we can't assume American copyright law applies when we have an explicit statement that it does not. Perhaps the best way to interpret it is that works made in American Samoa can be freely copied – within American Samoa. But outside American Samoa, the works and copies of the works are covered by US copyright law. Aymatth2 (talk) 13:06, 19 May 2024 (UTC)