Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Qatar

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

Background

Qatar is a state on the northeast coast of the Arabian peninsula. It submitted to Ottoman rule in 1871. During World War I, Qatar became a British protectorate in 1916 as a member of the Trucial States. In 1971 Qatar became independent of Britain.

Qatar has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 13 January 1996, the Berne Convention since 5 July 2000 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 28 October 2005.[1]

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Qatar.[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[2] It appears to be retroactive: Law No. 25 of 1995 is hereby repealed as well as any provisions inconsistent with the provisions of this Law.[7/2002 Article 57] Nevertheless, the terms in the repealed 1995 law are identical to the current one except that photographic works were protected for 25 years from creation under the law.[25/1995 Article 24-25]

General rules

According to Law No. 7 of 2002, for an original, artistic or literary work

  • Economic rights are protected during the life of the Author and for 50 years after his death.[7/2002 Article 15]
  • For a work of joint authorship, rights are protected for 50 years from the date of the death of the last surviving co­author.[7/2002 Article 15]
  • For an audiovisual or collective work, rights are protected for 50 years as from the date on which the work was first published. For works that are not published, the term of protection shall run from the first day of the calendar year after the completion date of the work.[7/2002 Article 15]
  • For a work published under a pseudonym or published anonymously, rights are protected for 50 years from the first day of the calendar year following the date on which the work was first published.[7/2002 Article 15]

National folklore

Any expression which consists of distinctive elements of the traditional artistic heritage, originating or developed in the State of Qatar and reflects its artistic heritage, shall be considered as national folklore, including in particular the following expressions: oral expressions such as tales, popular poetry and riddles; musical expressions such as popular songs accompanied by music; motion expressions such as popular dances, plays, artistic forms and rituals, whether or not incorporated into material form; tangible expressions such as: products or popular art particularly drawings with lines and colors, engravings, sculptures, ceramics, pottery, woodwork, mosaic, metal, jewelry, hand­woven bags, knitting, carpets, textiles; musical instruments; architectural forms.[7/2002 Article 1]

National folklore shall be the public property of the State. The State, represented by the Ministry shall protect national folklore by all legal means, and shall act as the author of folklore works in facing any deformation, modification or commercial exploitation.[7/2002 Article 32]

Not protected

Shortcut

See also: Commons:Unprotected works

The protection provided by this Law shall not cover the following works:

  • laws, legal provisions, administrative decisions, international treaties, official documents or any official translation thereof.[7/2002 Article 4(1)]
  • daily news and other news of mere informatory nature.[7/2002 Article 4(2)]
  • ideas, procedures, operational methods, mathematical concepts, principles and mere data.[7/2002 Article 4(3)]

Currency

See also: Commons:Currency

  Not OK (See Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Banknotes of Qatar)

Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Neighboring Rights says

  • The protection provided by this Law shall not cover the following works ... laws, legal provisions, administrative decisions, international treaties, official documents or any official translation thereof.[7/2002 Article 4(1)]

However, "official documents" seems unlikely to include currency. The Qatar Central Bank states that all content on its site (which includes images of currency) may not be used for commercial purposes without the permission of the bank.[3]

Freedom of panorama

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

  Not OK. For noncommercial purposes of personal use and illustration through teaching only. Under Chapter V, "Restrictions on Copyright and Neighboring Rights":

(1) using the work exclusively for personal use, through reproduction, translation, quotation, musical arrangement, acting, broadcast listening, television viewing, photography or by any other means; [7/2002 Article 18]

(2) using the work by way of illustration for teaching, through publications, broadcasts, sound or visual recordings, films or by any other means, to the extent justified by the purpose, provided that the use is non­profit making and the source and the name of the author are indicated. [7/2002 Article 18]

See also

Citations

  1. a b Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights. Qatar (2018). Retrieved on 2018-11-04.
  2. Qatar Copyright and Related Rights (Neighboring Rights). WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization (2018). Retrieved on 2018-11-04.
  3. Disclaimer. Quatar Central bank. Retrieved on 2019-03-23.
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