Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Lebanon/es

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Lebanon relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Lebanon must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Lebanon 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 Lebanon, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

For many years Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I the country came under French control, formalized on 29 September 1923 under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Lebanon declared independence on 8 November 1943, and the last French troops withdrew in December 1946.

Lebanon has been a member of the Berne Convention since 30 September 1947 and the Universal Copyright Convention since 17 October 1959.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 75 of 1999 on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Lebanon.^[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

Under Law No. 75 of 1999 on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property,

• The term of protection granted under this Law to the economic rights of the author, shall be the life of the author and 50 years after his death, to be computed from the end of the year in which the death has occurred.^{[75/1999 Article 49]}
• In the case of a work of joint authorship, the term of protection shall be the life of the joint authors and 50 years after the death of the last joint author, to be computed from the end of the year in which the death has occurred. Should one of the authors die without leaving heirs, his share shall pass to the co-authors or to their heirs, unless stated otherwise.^{[75/1999 Article 50]}

• In the case of collective and audiovisual works, the term of protection shall be 50 years to be computed from the end of the year in which the work has been made available to the public or, failing such event, 50 years from the making of such work, to be computed from the end of the year in which the work has been completed.^{[75/1999 Article 51]}
• In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of protection shall expire 50 years after the work has been lawfully made available to the public.^{[75/1999 Article 52]}

• In the case of posthumous works or works published in the name of a legal person, the term of protection shall be 50 years to be computed from the end of the year in which the work was published.^{[75/1999 Article 52]}
• All economic related rights of performers shall enjoy protection for a period of 50 years to be computed from the end of the year in which the performance has been carried out.^{[75/1999 Article 54]}
• The term of protection granted to producers of sound recordings shall be 50 years, to be computed from the end of the year in which the first fixation of sound on tangible material has taken place.^{[75/1999 Article 55]}

• The term of protection granted to broadcasting organizations shall be 50 years, to be computed from the end of the year in which the broadcasting of their programs has taken place.^{[75/1999 Article 56]}

The previous copyright law of Lebanon, Law No. 2385 of January 17, 1924, had the same rules, with one notable exception: photographs were copyrighted until 50 years after their initial publication (article 153).

The following shall be excluded from the protection provided by this Law: laws, legislative decrees, decrees and decisions issued by all public authorities and official translations thereof; judicial decisions of all kinds and official translations thereof; speeches delivered in public assemblies and meetings. The authors of speeches and presentations shall enjoy the sole right of collecting and publishing such lectures and presentations; ideas, data and abstract scientific facts; artistic folkloric works of all kinds. However, works inspired by folklore shall enjoy protection.^{[75/1999 Article 4]}

• {{PD-Lebanon}} – photos and two dimensional artistic works 50 years after publication, starting from the end of the publication year after which attribution is still required forever.
• {{PD-Lebanon-Photo}}. Use this tag only for photos first published before 1949.

  , for use by media only. {{NoFoP-Lebanon}}

Law No. 75 of 1999 on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property says:

• The media shall be permitted, without the authorization of the author and without obligation to pay him compensation, to publish pictures of architectural works, visual artistic works, photographic works or works of applied art, provided that such works are available in places open to the public.^{[75/1999 Article 31]}

This limits freedom of panorama to the media, and so excludes other commercial use.

Note that "media" here refers to those engaged in news and information only, making Lebanese freedom of panorama insufficient for Wikimedia Commons. The French translation uses a more restrictive term that translates to English as "information agencies". See Commons talk:Freedom of panorama/Archive 1#Lebanon for a discussion on this.