Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Czech Republic

Copyright rules: Czechia Shortcut: COM:Czechia
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-old-auto}} {{PD-EU-no author disclosure}} {{PD-EU-unpublished}} {{PD-CzechGov}} {{FoP-Czech Republic}}
Treaties
Berne convention	1 January 1993
WTO member	1 January 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	6 March 2002
*‌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 Czechia relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in the Czechia must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Czechia 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 Czechia, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

Czechia was formed on 1 January 1993 when Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved into Czechia and Slovakia.

Czechia has been a member of the Berne Convention since 1 January 1993, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 6 March 2002. As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Consolidated Version of Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright and on Amendment to Certain Acts (the Copyright Act, as amended by Act No. 81/2005 Coll., Act No. 61/2006 Coll. and Act No. 216/2006 Coll.) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Czechia. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

WIPO also holds the text of Act of April 22, 2008, on Amendments to Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright and on Amendment to the Copyright Act. This act relates to compensation and does not affect the definitions or durations of protection. Wikisource holds the Czech language consolidated version of the act as amended up to 2008.

General rules

Under the Consolidated Version of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. as amended up to 216/2006,

• Unless stipulated otherwise, economic rights run for the life of the author and 70 years after his death.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(1)]}
• If a work has been created as the work of joint authors, the period of duration of economic rights is calculated from the death of the last surviving author.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(2)]}
• Economic rights to an anonymous and pseudonymous work run for 70 years from the time when the work was lawfully made public, unless the identity of the author becomes known.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(3)]}
• Economic rights to a collective work run for 70 years from the time when the work was lawfully made public except where the authors are identified when the work is made accessible to the public; in such cases the economic rights run for the life of the author and 70 years after his death.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(3)]}
• Where the death of the author is not decisive for the calculation of the period of duration of economic rights, and where the work has not been made public within 70 years from its creation, the economic rights expire at the end of this period.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(4)]}
• The duration of economic rights to an audiovisual work is calculated from the death of the last surviving of the the director, author of screenplay, author of the dialogues and composer of the music specifically created for use in the audiovisual work.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(5)]}
• A work for which the period of duration of economic rights has expired may be utilised by anybody without any further provision.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.28(1)]}
• Whoever first makes public an unpublished work for which the economic rights have expired is entitled to economic rights for 25 years from making the work public.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.28(2-3)]}
• The period of duration of economic rights is calculated from the 1 January of the year after the year in which the event used for its calculation occurred.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.27(7)]}
• The economic rights of a performer run for 50 years from the creation of the performance. However, where a fixation of a performance is made public during this period; the rights of the performer shall not expire until 50 years from the time when such a fixation was made public.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.73]}

Not protected

Shortcut

• COM:NOP Czech Republic

See also: Commons:Unprotected works

Under the Consolidated Version of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. as amended up to 216/2006, copyright protection shall not apply to:

• An official work, such as a legal regulation, decision, public charter, publicly accessible register and collection of its documents, and also any official draft of an official work and other preparatory official documentation including the official translation of such work, Chamber of Deputies and Senate publications, a memorial chronicle of a municipality (municipal chronicles), a state symbol and symbol of a municipality, and any other such works where there is public interest in their exclusion from copyright protection.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.3(a)]}
• Creations of traditional folk culture, unless the real name of the author is commonly known and the works are anonymous or pseudonymous; such works may only be used in a way that shall not detract from their value.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.3(b)]}

Copyright tags

Shortcut

• COM:TAG Czech Republic

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD-CzechGov}} – for public domain Czech official works, state symbols etc.
• {{Money-CZ}} – Czech currency
• {{PD-anon-70-CZ}} – for Czech public domain works that are 70+ years old and the author is unknown

Currency

Shortcut

• COM:CUR Czech Republic

See also: Commons:Currency

OK. Common legal tender of Czechia is not subject to copyright as there is public interest in their exclusion from copyright protection.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.3(a)]} This does not necessarily apply to special-issue coins, such as precious-metal coins, commemorative coins, special editions of coins for collectors, etc.

Decree No. 274/2011 Coll. of 5 September 2011, consolidated as of 1 January 2017, defines the terms and conditions under which it is possible to reproduce banknotes and coins and to produce objects imitating them: For intangible reproductions of banknotes, it is required that their resolution not exceed 72 dots per inch and that they are marked with the word “specimen” printed diagonally in an opaque colour and in a layer that cannot be separated from the image of the banknote, with the length of the word being at least 75% of the longer side of the banknote and the height being at least 15% of the shorter side of the banknote (or with another word of the same dimensions and similar meaning). Intangible images of coins may always be produced. Tangible reproductions of banknotes and images have different conditions.

Please use {{Money-CZ}} for Czech currency images.

De minimis

Shortcut

• COM:DM Czech Republic

See also: Commons:De minimis

Under the Consolidated Version of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. as amended up to 216/2006,

• Copyright is not infringed by anybody who uses a work incidentally, in connection with an intended primary use of another work or element.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.38c]}

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Czech Republic

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK. {{FoP-Czech Republic}} Under the Consolidated Version of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. as amended up to 216/2006, Article 33: Use of a Work Located in Public Place says,

• Copyright is not infringed by anybody who records or expresses by drawing, painting, graphic art, photography or film a work permanently located on a square, in a street, in a park, on a public route or in any other public place; copyright shall likewise not be infringed by anybody who further uses a work so expressed, rendered or recorded. If possible, the name of the author (unless the work is an anonymous work) or the name of the person under whose name the work is being introduced in public, the title of the work and its location shall be indicated.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.33(1)]}
• The provisions of Paragraph (1) shall not apply to making a reproduction or imitation of a work of architecture in the form of erecting a building and to the reproduction and distribution of a work in the form of a three-dimensional reproduction.^{[121/2000–2006 Art.33(2)]}

The act itself does not explicitly define the meaning of the phrases “public space” (veřejné prostranství) and “permanently located” (trvale umístěno). As with all copyright exceptions, the use must fulfill the Berne three-step test. That is, this is a special-case exception, not a normal case. The uses allowed by this exception do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the rights holder.

Works located on streets, squares, in public parks etc. (a common interpretation includes also works which are visible from such places, although they aren't mentioned in the act) can be pictured freely. According to Telec's interpretation, the exception cannot be applied to e. g. parts of a building not visible from a public place, even if the building is generally visible.

With regard to the used term veřejné prostranství (public space) instead of veřejně přístupné místo (publicly accessible place) and the fact that the act use exterior examples only, some interpretations are that copyright exception does not apply to some (or all) types of interiors, such as shopping center interiors, waiting rooms, museums, galleries, concert halls etc., even if they are accessible to general public. Other authors perceive such places as private. However, the act itself does not distinguish or mention exteriors or interiors explicitly. Veřejné prostranství are more precisely defined in the Municipal Act (§ 34, 128/2000 Sb.) as "all squares, streets, markets, walkways, public vegetation, parks and other areas (prostory) accessible for everybody without restriction, thus serving to public use, disregarding ownership of this area." The Constitutional Court in their decision No. Pl. ÚS 50/03 presumed that areas which are made accessible only from the voluntariness of the owner or operator need not to fall under the term veřejné prostranství.

The spaciousness of the interior, a type of regulation of the public access (entrance fee zone, night closure, obligatory passability of the place etc.) and a purpose of the place can be relevant for the interpretation and application. There is lack of judicial precedents for more accurate distinction.

Enclosed parks which are publicly accessible in limited time (night closure) or conditioned by entrance fee can be disputable. However, as an example, the Prague Zoo declared repeatedly that its exteriors were public spaces when they argued that they were not eligible for a prohibition on smoking there. Romana Anděrová, an official speaker of the Prague Zoo, said: "A zoo is a public space, where smoking cannot be banned. Smoking is not allowed in pavilions and restaurants. Fortunately, the smoke does not penetrate to the animals, otherwise they would not like it." The zoological garden is a public space similar to Stromovka or other parks.

The exception is limited only to works permanently located in a public space. The word "permanently" was added to §33 during introduction of the European Parliament copyright directive. The directive contains a similar restriction. This means, according the explanatory report, that freedom of panorama is usually applied to three-dimensional artistic and architectonic works (sculptures, memorials, buildings, etc.) which are named as examples in the European Directive. However, the law text does not preclude or exclude application of the exception to two-dimensional works if all conditions are met. That is, it may apply to paintings permanently incorporated into a building facade, street art, permanent informational boards etc.

Temporary exhibitions etc. are not covered by the exception. The word "permanently" is generally understood as "for an indefinite period" and is not presumed that the work is really eternal and unremovable.

Stamps

See also: Commons:Stamps

Postal stamps of Czechia (they are since 1993) are copyrighted 70 years after the author's death by both authors: an engraver and a graphic artist. They are not official works. Stamps are officially announced in Poštovní věstník (Postal bulletin, it is published at least since 2000) and texts in this bulletin is public domain but the stamps are copyrighted.

Threshold of originality

Shortcut

• COM:TOO Czech Republic

See also: Commons:Threshold of originality

The work must be "a unique outcome of the creative activity of the author".^{[121/2000–2006 Art.2(1)]} For photographs and computer programs, it suffices if the work "is original in the sense that it is the author’s own intellectual creation".^{[121/2000–2006 Art.2(2)]}

See also

• Česko
• Category:Czech FOP cases
• Category:License tags of the Czech Republic
• Category:Stamps of the Czech Republic
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Czechoslovakia

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