Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Malta

The UK Copyright Act 1911^[1] applied in Malta as of 1912, introducing a general copyright term of Life + 50 years, save for posthumous works, government works and photographs, for which the copyright protection was for 25 years following creation. ^{[1911 Art. 3]} With the 1970 Copyright Act (Cap.196 of the Laws of Malta),^[2] copyright protection was reduced to Life + 25 years for literary, musical and artistic works. Photographic and cinematographic works, as well as anonymous/pseudonymous works, remained protected for 25 years since publication. ^{[1970/196 Art. 4(2)]} The 2000 Copyright Act (Cap.415 of the Laws of Malta) generally raised copyright protection to Life + 70 years. ^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(2)]} Law 197/2004 revived copyright whose protection had expired before the coming into force of the Copyright Act, but were on the 1st May, 2004 still protected in an EEA country.^[3]

The above means that:

• photographs published between 1912 and 1948 have been protected for 50 years; they entered the public domain between 1963 and 1999;
• photographs published between 1970 and 1973 have been protected for 25 years; they entered the public domain between 1996 and 1999;
• photographs published between 1949 and 1969, and since 1974, fall under the scope of the 2000 Copyright act; their copyright expires 70 years after the death of their author.

Malta has been a member of the Berne Convention since 21 September 1964, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 14 March 2010.^[4]

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the Copyright Act, 2000 (Chapter 415) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of the Malta.^[4] WIPO holds the Copyright Act 2000 as amended up to Act No. VIII of 2011 in their WIPO Lex database.^[5] The act replaces the Copyright Act, Cap. 196.^{[415/2000-2011 Preamble]} It applies to works made after the act came into force, and works made earlier whose term of protection had not yet expired. It is not retroactive, in the sense that it cannot be used against actions that were allowed by the previous act.^{[415/2000-2011 Art.60]}

The Copyright Act 2000 (Chapter 415) covers artistic works, audiovisual works, databases, literary works and musical works. Literary, musical and artistic works must be original in character and must have been reduced to material form.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 3 (1-2)]}

• "Artistic works" include paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, engravings and prints; maps, plans, diagrams and three-dimensional works relative to geography, science or topography, works of sculpture; photographs not comprised in an audiovisual work; works of architecture in the form of buildings or models; and works of artistic craftsmanship, including pictorial woven tissues and articles of applied handicraft and industrial art.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]}
• "Audiovisual work" is a work that consists of a series of related images which impart the impression of motion, with or without accompanying sounds, susceptible of being made visible and, where accompanied by sounds, susceptible of being made audible.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]}
• "Database" means a collection of independent works, data or other materials arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually accessible by electronic or other means.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]}
• "Literary work" includes novels, stories and poetical works; plays, stage directions, choreographic works or entertainment in dumb show, film scenarios and broadcasting script; textbooks, treatises, histories, biographies, essays and articles; encyclopaedias and dictionaries; letters, reports and memoranda; lectures, addresses and sermons; and computer programs. It does not include any written law, law report or judicial decisions.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]}
• "Musical work" means any musical work, irrespective of musical quality, and includes works composed for musical accompaniment.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]}

Copyright protection is given to works eligible for copyright where the author (or any of the joint authors) is a citizen, permanent resident or legal entity of Malta or of a state where copyright is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(1)]} As of 1997 this included most countries in the world from Angola to Zimbabwe.^[6] Copyright is transmissible by assignment, operation of law or by testamentary disposition as movable property, and may be limited to certain acts, limited in time and limited in geographical area.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 24(2)]}

In this article, "50 years after [event]" means "for 50 years after the end of the year when [event] happened".

• Literary, musical and artistic works, and databases, are protected for 70 years after the author dies.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(2)]}
• Audiovisual works are protected for 70 years after the death of the last survivor of the principal director, the author of the screenplay, the author of the dialogue and the composer of music specifically created for use in the audiovisual work.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(2)]}
• Anonymous or pseudonymous literary, musical or artistic works are protected for 70 years after they were made public, or after they were made if they were not made public. If the identity of the author becomes known, the work is protected for 70 years after death of the author.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(3)]}
• A "work of joint authorship" is a work produced by the collaboration of two or more authors in which the contribution of each author is not separable from the contribution of the other author or authors.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]} Works of joint authorship are protected for 70 years after death of the last surviving author.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(4)]}
• A collective work is a work created by two or more physical persons at the initiative and under the direction of a physical person or legal entity with the understanding that it will be disclosed by the latter person or entity.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 2]} Collective works are protected for 70 years after they were made public, or after they were made if they were not made public.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(3)]} If the natural persons who have created a collective work are individually identifiable, the work is protected for 70 years after their death.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(3)]}
• A co-written musical work may be considered to be a work of joint authorship or a collective work depending on the arrangement between the authors.^[7]
• When an unpublished work whose copyright has expired is published, the work is protected for 25 years from publication.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 4(6)]}

See also: Commons:Government works

Copyright protection extends to work which is eligible for copyright and which is made by or under the direction or control of the Government of Malta. ^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 6(1)]}

• Databases and literary, musical or artistic works are protected for 70 years from publication.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 6(2)]}
• Audiovisual works are protected for 70 years after the death of the last survivor of the principal director, the author of the screenplay, the author of the dialogue and the composer of music specifically created for use in the audiovisual work.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 6(3)]}
• When an unpublished work whose copyright has expired is published, the work is protected for 25 years from publication.^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 6(4)]}

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

Any work whose country of origin is Malta should have tags that indicate why the work is public domain or free license in Malta and the United States. These should be placed in the "Permission" parameter of the {{Information}} template (or the respective parameter of similar templates) or in the "Licensing" section.

Tags that may be used to show copyright status in Malta include:

• {{PD-old-auto}} – Author(s) died more than 70 years ago, showing year of death
• {{PD-old-70}} – Author(s) died more than 70 years ago
• {{PD-EU-no author disclosure}} – Anonymous or pseudonymous work published more than 70 years ago with no subsequent claim of authorship
• {{PD-collective-work}} – Collective work in the public domain
• {{PD-EU-unpublished}} – Work published after copyright had expired, published more than 25 years ago
• {{PD-MaltaGov}} – Government work published more than 70 years ago
• {{PD-self}} – Work you created and are releasing into the public domain
• {{Cc-by-sa-3.0}} – Released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. See Category:CC license tags for other similar tags

Also provide a United States tag such as

• {{PD-US-expired}} – First published before 1929
• {{PD-1996}} – Meets the requirements for works published before the Uruguay Round Agreements Act date

See also: Commons:Currency

  Not OK There is no copyright exception for Maltese currency or governmental work (see articles 2(1)a, 3(1)a and 6(1) of the Maltese copyright act). The Bank of Malta makes currency images available for use, but their disclaimer forbids any kind of derivative work, thus making these files impossible to host on Commons.

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

  OK for buildings and sculptures. {{FoP-Malta}}

Malta's Copyright Act states that copyright "shall not include the right to authorise or prohibit (…) the inclusion in a communication to the public, the making of a graphic representation and the making of a photograph or film, of a work of architecture or sculpture or similar works made to be located permanently in public places."^{[415/2000-2011 Art. 9(1)(p)]}