Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Seychelles - Wikimedia Commons

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Durations
Copyright rules: the Seychelles Shortcut: COM:Seychelles


Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Create/publish + 50 years
Audiovisual	Create/publish + 50 years
Applied art	Create + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Until July 31, 2014
Terms run to year end	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Seychelles}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	SYC
Treaties
WTO member	26 April 2015
URAA restoration date‌*	26 April 2015
*‌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.
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This page provides an overview of copyright rules of the Seychelles relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in the Seychelles must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both the Seychelles 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 Seychelles, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Britain assumed control of the Seychelles upon the surrender of Mauritius in 1810, formalised in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris. The Seychelles became a crown colony separate from Mauritius in 1903. The Seychelles became independent on 29 June 1976.

The Seychelles has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 26 April 2015, as well as various other international treaties.^[1]

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the "Copyright Act, 2014 (Act No. 5 of 2014)" as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of the Seychelles.^[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.^[2]

This act repealed the Copyright Act (Cap 58) of 31 March 1984.^{[5/2014 Section 38(1)]} However, any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the repealed Act shall continue to subsist.^{[5/2014 Section 38(2c)]}

According to the earlier Copyright Act, Chapter 51, enacted 1984, amended 1991, a work first published in the Seychelles is now in the public domain if it meets one of the following criteria:

It is an anonymous work or pseudonymous work and 25 years have passed since the year of its publication
It is a sound recording and 50 years have passed since the date of its creation
It is a photographic work or film and 25 years have passed since the year of its publication
It is literary, musical or artistic work other than photograph and 25 years have passed since the year of death of the author (or last-surviving author)
It is a government work and 25 years have passed since the year of its publication

According to the more recent Copyright Act, 2014, which does not appear to be retroactive,

The economic and moral rights shall be protected during the life of the author and for 50 years after his or her death.^{[5/2014 Section 19(1)]}
In the case of a work of joint authorship, the economic and moral rights shall be protected during the life of the last surviving author and for fifty years after his or her death.^{[5/2014 Section 19.(2)]}
In the case of an audio-visual work, the economic and moral rights shall be protected for 50 years from the date on which the work was made or first made available to the public by publication or by any other means, whichever date is the latest.^{[5/2014 Section 19.(3)]}
In the case of a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the economic and moral rights shall be protected for 50 years from the date on which the work was made or first made available to the public, by publication or by any other means whichever date is the latest.^{[5/2014 Section 19.(4)]}
In the case of a work of applied art, the economic and moral rights shall be protected for 25 years from the making of the work.^{[5/2014 Section 19.(5)]}

The period provided for·under subsections (1) to (5) shall run to the end of the calendar year in which it would otherwise expire.^{[5/2014 Section 19.(6)]}

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

Not OK for depictions (like photos and videos) of artistic works published on Wikimedia Commons on or after August 1, 2014. {{NoFoP-Seychelles}}
OK for depictions of artistic works published on Wikimedia Commons until July 31, 2014. {{FoP-Seychelles}}

The Seychelles Copyright Act of 1991 sets forth that "4. The reproduction, distribution of copies or inclusion in a film or broadcast of an artistic work permanently on view to the public" are "acts not controlled by copyright." (Schedule 1; Sections 10, 11 12 (sic) and 13).

There is no comparable provision in the 2014 act, as well as the original 1991 term seems removed by this revision. The 2014 act took effect on August 1, 2014. However, a transitional clause exists at 38(2)(b): "the licences or authorisation granted under the repealed Act shall continue to operate as licences or authorisation, as the case may be, for the purposes of this Act, until the expiration or revocation of such licence or authorisation." This indicates the freedom of panorama licence granted by the old copyright act is still in effect for representations made before the aforementioned date, and images that were uploaded on Wikimedia Commons before the aforementioned date are still permitted.

Recent discussion/s: Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2021/09#Clarification on Seychellois FOP.