Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Sudan

In 1898 the British defeated the Mahdist State and began to govern Sudan jointly with Egypt. Sudan obtained self-government in 1953 and full independence on 1 January 1956.

Sudan has been a member of the Berne Convention since 28 December 2000.^[1]

As of 2024, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection and Literal and Artistic Works Act, 2013 as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Sudan.^[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.^[2] This law repeals both the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection Act 1996 and the Literal and Artistic Works 2001^{[2013 Section 2(1)]}; a copy of the 1996 law is also available at the WIPO Lex database.^[3] The 1996 law, in turn, repealed the Copyright Protection Act 1974.^{[1996 Section 2]}

According to Section 2(2), "notwithstanding the Provisions of subsection (1) all regulations and rules made thereunder shall remain in force until amended or repealed in accordance with the provisions of this Act."^{[2013 Section 2(2)]} An identical "saving" provision also exists in the 1996 law (at Section 2).

Under the 2013 Act,

• The economic rights of the author shall last during the author's life and for fifty years after his death.^{[2013 Section 10(1)(b)]}
• The economic rights of an audio-visual work shall last for fifty years after the audio-visual work put at the disposal of the public with the consent of the author, where upon the expiry of fifty years and the work was not put at the disposal of the public the protection shall came to an end.^{[2013 Section 10(1)(c)]}
• The economic rights of works that do not carry the name of the author or carry a pseudonym name shall last for fifty years after putting the work at the disposal of the public in a legitimate way, where the pseudonym name which is used by the author leave no room to doubt in specifying his character, the duration of the protection shall be as provided for in paragraph (b) and the same applies where the author reveals his real name before the expiry of the time of protection.^{[2013 Section 10(1)(d)]}
• The economic rights of the photographic and applied arts works shall last for 25 years after the achievement of the work.^{[2013 Section 10(1)(e)]}
• In relation to joint work the period shall start to run from the date of the death of the fast surviving author.^{[2013 Section 10(2)]}
• In paragraph (1) of this section the period shall start to run from the first of January of the year subsequent to the date of death or the date of placing the work at the disposal of the public or to achieve the work, as the case may be.^{[2013 Section 10(3)]}

Former terms

Under the repealed 1996 Act:^{[1996 Sections 13(2), 13(3), and 13(4)]}

• General term: author's life and 50 years after his death
• Photographs, films, and other audio-visual works: 25 years from publication date
• Posthumous works: 25 years from publication date
• Pseudonymous and anonymous works: 25 years from the date of first publication
• Joint work: period starts from the date of death of the last-surviving author

• Works which are vested into public domain^{[2013 Section 6(a)]}
• Official document^{[2013 Section 6(b)]}
• Daily news paper and different events which described as a journalist information.^{[2013 Section 6(c)]}
• Ideas, procedures and methods of work, mathematics base, principles, and mere facts, and methods of creation of work.^{[2013 Section 6(d)]}

See also: Commons:Government works

Under the 2013 law copyright does not extend to state emblems and symbols or official documents.^{[2013 Section 6]} Official documents "mean the official documents issued by the State or its institutions, corporations or subsidlary units, including laws, presidential and administrative orders, international agreements and judicial judgments, arbitration awards and resolutions of the administrative committees of Judicial Jurisdiction."^{[2013 Section 3]}

See also: Commons:Paying public domain

• National folklore expressions shall be considered as State public ownership represented in the council entrusted by all methods and means for its protection.^{[2013 Section 39]}
• No person shall copy or distribute folklore expression copies for the purpose of sale or by any other disposition as will transfer ownership or to make public performance or transfer it to public except after obtaining a written permission from the council.^{[2013 Section 41(1)]}
• Any person may use folklore expressions in such a way as will not be intended for profit or will be made within the traditional or customary frame of folklore expressions or that the use is intended for adaptation or extraction which tends to create a new creative work.^{[2013 Section 41(4)]}

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD-Sudan}} – photos and films 25 years after publication, starting from the publication date.
• {{PD-Sudan-Photo}}

See also: Commons:Currency

•   OK: Banknote designs before 18 December 1996
•   Not OK: Banknote designs on or after 18 December 1996

Sudan's first copyright law entered into force on 18 December 1996 and did not extend protection to works already in the public domain. Banknotes issued before this date are therefore in the public domain in Sudan. Because these banknotes were in the public domain in Sudan before it joined the Berne Convention (28 December 2000), they are also in the public domain in the United States and may be uploaded to Commons.

The status of banknote designs released after 18 December 1996 is unclear. Under Sudanese copyright law, "official documents" are in the public domain, but banknotes may not fall under the definition of "official documents". If that definition does not include banknotes, then banknotes will be protected for 50 years after the death of the last contributing author.

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

  Not OK. Both the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 1996 (§14(1–10)) and Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection and Literal and Artistic Works Act, 2013 (§25–36) do not contain a usable freedom of panorama provision that allows uses in advertising and other commercial media, of images of copyrighted works of architecture and artistic works permanently located in public spaces.

• Category:Sudanese FOP cases