Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Bahamas

Copyright rules: the Bahamas Shortcut: COM:Bahamas
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Terms run to year end	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	BHS
Treaties
Berne convention	10 July 1973
Univ. Copyright Convention	13 July 1976
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
*‌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 Bahamas relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in the Bahamas must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both the Bahamas 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 Bahamas, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718. The country became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973,

The Bahamas has been a member of the Berne Convention since 10 July 1973 and the Universal Copyright Convention since 13 July 1976.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act, 1998 (CH.323) (as amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Act, Act No. 2 of 2004) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of the Bahamas. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. A more recent version with revisions up to 2010 is held on the Bahamas Laws On-Line database managed by the Office of the Attorney-General & Ministry of Legal Affairs.

General rules

According to the 2010 version of Statute Law of The Bahamas - Chapter 323 the duration of copyright is:

• Individual works: 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.10 (1)]}
• Joint works: 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last surviving author dies.^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.10 (5)]}
• If a work is anonymous, pseudonymous or made for hire, copyright in that work expires at the end of the period of 70 years from the year of its first publication or a term of one hundred years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.10 (2)]}

There is copyright protection for every work which is eligible for copyright and which is made by or under the direction or control of the Government.^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.8]}

Currency

Shortcut

• COM:CUR Bahamas

See also: Commons:Currency

 Not OK. Images of banknotes and coins denominated in Bahamian dollars are subject to copyright protection and are property of the Central Bank of The Bahamas. They cannot be reproduced or published without the expressed consent of the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Bahamas

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK. The Bahamas has freedom of panorama for architecture, and 2D and 3D artistic works on display in places or premises open to the public. According to the 2010 version of Statute Law of The Bahamas - Chapter 323,

• The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or is ordinarily visible from a public place.^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.78 (1)]}
• The copyright in an artistic work does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs or other pictorial representations of the work if the work is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.79 (1)]} This section applies to (a) buildings; (b) sculptures, models of buildings and artistic works, if permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public. ^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.78 (2)]}
• In this Act... “artistic works” include two-dimensional and three dimensional work of fine, graphic and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, architectural plans and technical drawings;"^{[Cap 323/2010 Sec.2 (1)]}

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