Commons:Copyright rules by territory/British Virgin Islands

Copyright rules: British Virgin Islands Shortcut: COM:BVI
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Photograph	Publish + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	For architecture, sculptures, and works of artistic craftsmanship
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	VGB
Treaties
Berne convention	5 December 1887
Univ. Copyright Convention	27 September 1957
WTO member	1 January 1995
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 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

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

Background

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. The islands were colonized by the British in the 17th century. They islands gained separate colony status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967. The BVI is self-governing, and its government enacts local laws.

According to Chambers and Partners as of 2019, the British Virgin Islands does not have its own copyright registry. The United Kingdom extended the Copyright Act, 1956 (WIPO copy) to the BVI by the Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 (SI No 2185 of 1962).

General rules

Under the Copyright Act 1956,

• Copyright subsist­ing in a work ... shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author died, and shall then expire.^{[1956 Sec.2(3), 3(4)]}
• If the work had not been made public before the death of the author, copyright shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year which it was made public.^{[1956 Sec.2(3), 3(4)]}
• Where the first publication of a literary, dramatic, or musical work. or of an artistic work other than a photograph, is anonymous or pseudonymous, any copyright subsisting in the work ... shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published, and shall then expire.^{[1956 2nd Sched. Sec.2]}
• The copyright in a photograph shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the photograph is first published, and shall then expire.^{[1956 Sec.3(4b)]}

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP BVI

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK for architecture, sculptures, and works of artistic craftsmanship.  Not OK for other types of artistic works. The Copyright Act 1956 contains freedom of panorama provisions at Section 9, subsections 3–6, with similar rules as those of the United Kingdom freedom of panorama.

See also

• British Virgin Islands
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/British Overseas Territories
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/United Kingdom

Citations

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