Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, copyright is regulated by the act from 1994. The first Polish

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

act has been enacted in 1926 (although copyright issues have been regulated on territories of partitioned Poland in the 19th century by governments of the German Empire, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, beginning with the 1828 copyright law passed in Tsarist Russia). Poland signed the

Berne Convention The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...

in 1919, soon after regaining its independence in 1918. The main acts that have regulated Polish copyright law have been: ::*'' Polish Copyright Law from 1926 (Polish original, amended version from 1935)'' ( Dz.U. RP 1935; Pos. 260) ::*'' Polish Copyright Law from 1926 (Polish original, amended in 1952)'' (Dz.U.52.34.234) ::*'' Polish Copyright Law from 4 February 1994 (Polish original)'' (Dz. U. nr 80 z 2000r. poz. 904) ::*'' Polish Copyright Law from 4 February 1994 (English)'' Polish copyright law complies to a large extent with legislation in European Union, see

EU Copyright Directive The copyright law of the European Union is the copyright law applicable within the European Union. Copyright law is largely harmonized in the Union, although country to country differences exist. The body of law was implemented in the EU through ...

. According to the Art.3 of copyright law of March 29, 1926 (valid until 1952) and Art. 2 of copyright law of July 10, 1952 of the People's Republic of Poland, all photographs by Polish photographers (or published for the first time in Poland or simultaneously in Poland and abroad) printed without a clear copyright notice before the law was changed on May 23, 1994 are public domain. Status of those photographs did not change after Polish Copyright Law of February 4, 1994 was enacted. (See: Template:PD-Polish) According to the Polish Copyright Law of February 4, 1994 (Article 4, case 2) "governmental symbols, documents, materials and signs are not subject to copyrights". However, in some instances the use of this image in Poland might be regulated by other laws. It is being debated if postage stamps fall into this category. (See: Template:PD-Polishsymbol) According to the Art.21 of copyright law of March 29, 1926 (valid until 1952) photographs lose copyright protection ten years after picture was taken. Series of scientific or artistic pictures lose copyright protection after 50 years. According to Art. 27 of copyright law of July 10, 1952 (valid until May 23, 1994) photographs and series of photographs lose copyright protection ten years after publication date. The copyright act from February 4, 1994 in article 33 point 1 allows the propagation of works that are permanently exhibited on the publicly accessible roads, streets, squares or gardens provided that the propagation is not for the same use. The name of the creator and source should be provided if it is possible by article 34. This use is royalty free, provided that it does not harm the legitimate interests of the creator by article 34. Polish copyright law prohibits copyright for: # legislative acts and their official drafts, # official documents, materials, logos and symbols, # published patent specifications and industrial design specifications, # simple press information.

External links

Protecting Intellectual Property in PolandFreedom of panorama in Poland
{{Authority control

Polish intellectual property law

See also

External links