Legal information is in the public domain in 53 out of 55 African countries.
Read our research and find out if your country is one of the 53 with a permissive copyright regime enabling open access to legal information. Legal and Policy information from the African Union is in the public domain. This index is up to date as of July 2023.
| A | B | C | D | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Country | Public Domain | Reference | Text | Link | |
2 | Algeria | Yes | Art. 11 of the Ordinance No. 03-05 of 19 Joumada El Oula 1424 corresponding to July 19, 2003, on Copyright and Related Rights | Approved protection of copyrights provided for herein shall not be granted to administrative laws, regulations, resolutions and administrative contracts issued by the state institutions, local groups, justice rulings and the official translation of these texts. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/490177 | |
3 | Angola | Yes | Art. 24 of Lei n.° 15/14 de 31 de julho de 2014, dos Direitos de Autor e Conexos | Obras Nao Protegidas Artigo 24 (Obras niio protegidas) 1. 0 presente Diploma nao abrange: a) As leis, decisoes de orgaos administrativos e judiciais publicados ou nao em Diario da Repziblica; b) Os discursos e alocu9oes feitas em publico, salvo quando compiladas em livros pelos seus autores; c) As noticias do dia e relatos de acontecimento com caracter de simples informacao transmitidas pelos meios de comunicac;ao social. 2. Os simples factos e dados, as ideias, os processos, os sistemas, os metodos operacionais, os conceitos, os principios ou as descobertas nao sao, por si sa protegidas nos termos da presente Lei, salvo quando forem ou servirem de referencia de uma obra seja de que natureza for. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/503105 | |
4 | Benin | Yes | Art. 9 of Law No 30 of 2005 | ARTICLE 9 The protection afforded by the present Law shall not extend to: - official texts of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature or to the official translations thereof; - the news of the day; - ideas, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discoveries or simple data, even if they are set out, described, explained, illustrated or incorporated in a work. | https://wipolex.wipo.int/fr/text/490619 | |
5 | Botswana | Yes | Section 6 of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, 2000 (Chapter 68:02, as amended by Act No. 6 of 2006) | 6. Protection to be for creation, and the kind of works not protected. (1) A work shall be protected under the Act by the sole fact of its creation and irrespective of its mode or form of expression, as well as of its content, quality and purpose. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 3, 4 and 5, no protection shall extend under this Act to- (a) any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; (b) any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof; (c) a broadcast which infringes, or to the extent that it infringes, the copyright in another broadcast or in a cable programme; or (d) a sound recording or film which is, or to the extent that it is, a copy of a previous sound recording or film. | https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/505431 | |
6 | Burkina Faso | Yes | Art. 8 of Law No. 032-99/AN of December 22, 1999, on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property | The protection of copyright shall not cover: - official texts of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature or their official translations; - daily news; - simple facts and data. | https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/490983 | |
7 | Burundi | Yes | Art. 7 of Law No. 1/021 of December 30, 2005, on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights in Burundi | Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 4 and 5, copyright protection shall not apply to: (a) acts, legal decisions and decisions of administrative bodies and the official translations of such texts, or daily news published, broadcast or communicated in public; (b) ideas, procedures, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discoveries or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work. | https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/text/491097 | |
8 | Cabo Verde | Yes | Art. 10 of Decree-Law No. 1/2009 of April 27, 2009, on the Revision of Copyright Law | Article 10
Works not protected The following may not be protected: (a) news of the day and reports of different events given simply for information, however disclosed: (b) laws and rulings of judicial and administrative bodies, as well as petitions, allegations, complaints and other texts submitted to public authorities or services; (c) political speeches, except when assembled in a volume by their authors; (d) simple facts and data; (e) ideas, processes, systems, operational methods, concerts, principles or discoveries, in themselves and as such. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/504237 | |
9 | Cameroon | Yes | Art 3(4)(b) of Law No. 2000/011 of December 19, 2000, on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights | Art. 3(4)(b)
Copyright shall not protect: ... (b) laws, court judgments and other official instruments, as well as their official translations; ... | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/491114 | |
10 | Central African Republic | Yes | Art. 10 of Ordonnance n° 85.002 du 5 janvier 1985 sur le droit d'auteur | Limitation permanents - Art. 10. — La protection prévue à l'article 2 ci-dessùs ne s'applique pas: —aux lois, aux décisions judiciaires ou administratives ainsi qu'aux traductions officielles de ces textes; . —auxjiouvelles du jour publiées, radiodiffusées, télévisées ou communiquées en public. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/195238 | |
11 | Chad | Yes | Art. 9 of Law No. 005/PR/2003 of May 2, 2003, on the Protection of Copyright, Neighboring rights and Expressions of Folklore | Article 9: The protection afforded by this Law shall not extend to: 1. official texts of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature or to the official translations thereof; 2. the news of the day; 3. simple facts and data. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/491812 | |
12 | Comoros | Yes | Art. 41 of Law of March 11, 1957, on Literary and Artistic Property | Article 41 Lorsque l’œuvre a été divulguée, l’auteur ne peut interdire : - 1° les représentations privées et gratuites effectuées exclusivement dans un cercle de famille ; - 2° les copies ou reproductions strictement réservées à l’usage privé du copiste et non destinées à une utilisation collective, à l’exception des copies des œuvres d’art destinées à être utilisées pour des fins identiques à celles pour lesquelles l’œuvre originale a été créée ; - 3° sous réserve que soient indiqués clairement le nom de l’auteur et la source : 1) les analyses et courtes citations justifiées par le caractère critique, polémique, pédagogique, scientifique ou d’information de l’œuvre à laquelle elles sont incorporées ; 2) les revues de presse ; 3) la diffusion, même intégrale, par la voie de la presse ou de la radio-diffusion à titre d’information d’actualité, des discours destinés au public prononcés dans les assemblées politiques, administratives, judiciaires ou académiques, ainsi que les réunions publiques d’ordre politique et les cérémonies officielles ; - 4° la parodie, le pastiche et la caricature, compte tenu des lois du genre. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/214449 | |
13 | Congo, Republic of | Yes | Art. 14 of Law No. 24/82 of July 7, 1982, on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights | Article 14: Notwithstanding Articles 6 and 7 above, laws, decisions of courts or of administrative bodies and official translations thereof, news of the day published, broadcast or communicated to the public shall not fall within the scope of this Law. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/642 | |
14 | Côte d'Ivoire | Yes | Art. 10 of Law No. 2016-555 of July 26, 2016, on Copyright and Related Rights | Article 10' La protection prévue par la présente loi ne s'étend pas: -- aux idées, méthodes, procédures, concepts ou informations en tant que tels; -- aux textes officiels de nature législative, administrative ou judiciare, ni à leurs traductions officielles; -- aux simples données et faits, considérés en tant que tels. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/436013 | |
15 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Yes | Art. 14 of Loi sur le droit d'auteur et les droits voisins (N° 24/82, du 7 juillet 1982) | Article 14: Nonobstant les dispositions des articles 6 et 7 ci-dessus, les lois. les décisions de justice, celles des autorités administratives, ainsi que la traduction officielle de ces textes et les nouvelles du jour publiées, radiodiffusées ou communiquées au public, sont hors du champ d'application de la présente loi. | https://ictpolicyafrica.org/en/document/h2469dh3wft?raw=true&page=2 | |
16 | Djibouti | Yes | Art. 8 of Law No. 154/AN/06 of July 23, 2006, on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights | Article 8: Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 3 and 4, protection shall not apply to: ((a) laws, judicial decisions, decisions of administrative bodies, as well as official translations of such text;... | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/9086 | |
17 | Egypt | Yes | Art. 141 of Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights | Article 141: Protection shall not cover mere ideas, procedures, systems, operational methods, concepts, principles, discoveries and data, even when expressed, described, illustrated or included in a work. In addition, protection shall not cover the following: (1) Official documents, whatever their source or target language, such as laws, regulations, resolutions and decisions, international conventions, court decisions, award of arbitrators and decisions of administrative committees having judicial competence. (2) News on current events which are mere press information. However, collections of the above shall enjoy protection if the selection of such collection is creative by virtue of its arrangement or any other personal effort deserving protection. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/126540 | |
18 | Equatorial Guinea | No | There is no full exemption according to Art. 28 of Ley de 10 de enero de 1879, de la Propiedad Intelectual | COLECCIONES LEGISLATIVAS Art. 28°. Las leyes, decretos, Reales órdenes, reglamentos y demás disposiciones que emanen de los poderes públicos, pueden insertarse en los periódicos y en otras obras en que por su naturaleza ú objeto convenga citarlos, comentarlos, criticarlos ó copiarlos á la letra, pero nadie podrá publicarlos sueltos ni en colección sin permiso expreso del Gobierno. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/240885 | |
19 | Eritrea | Yes | Art. 1651 of Provisional Commercial Code of Eritrea and Provisional Civil Code of Eritrea of 1993 (Extracts relating to Intellectual Property rights) | Article 1651: -Official text. (1) official texts of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature shall not be subject to the provisions of this Title. (2) They may be freely reproduced. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/244453 | |
20 | Eswatini | Yes | Section 4(2) of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 2018 | Section 4(2): (2) the following public documents shall not be eligible for copyright-- (a) official texts of enactments; (b) official texts of Bills prepared for presentation in Parliament; (c) official records of judicial proceedings and decisions; (d) notices, advertisements and other material published by the Gazette; (e) official texts of international conventions, treaties and agreements to which Swazilend is a party; (f) entries in, and documents that form part of, any register which is kept in terms of an enactment and is open to public inspection; (g) such other documents of a public nature as may be prescribed: Provided that this subsection shall not be taken to limit the provisions of any other law which may prohibit or restrict the reproducing, publishing or altering of any such public document. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/487116 | |
21 | Ethiopia | Yes | Art. 5 of Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection Proclamation No. 410/2004 | Article 5: Subject Matter not protected Notwithstanding the Provisions of Articles 2,3 and 4 of this Proclamation the following matters shall not be protected; a) Any idea, procedures, system, method of operation. concept, formula, numerical tables and forms of general use, principle, discovery or mere date, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; and b) Any official text of a legislative, administrative or of legal nature, as well as official translations thereof. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/5306 | |
22 | Gabon | Yes | Art. 11 of Law Instituting Protection for Copyright and Neighboring Rights (No. 1187, of July 29, 1987) | Article 11: Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 2 to 5 above, protection shall not apply: -to laws and regulations and officially published preparatory work therefor, decisions of the courts and of administrative bodies and official translations of such texts; -the news of the day published, diffused or communicated to the public. | https://wipolex-res.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ga/ga028en.pdf | |
23 | Gambia | Yes | Section 7(b) of Copyright Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) | Section 7: Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 5 and 6, no protection shall extend under this Act to -- (a) any idea, procedure, system. method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data. even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; or (b) any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature or any of its official translation. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/221246 | |
24 | Ghana | Yes | Section 8(1) of Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690) | Section 8(1): The rights referred to insections 5 and 6 of this Act shall not vest in any person in respect of the following works, (a) an enactment, (b) a decision made by a court or tribunal established under any enactment for the administration of justice in the Republic, (c) a report made by a commission of enquiry appointed by the Government or any agency oftheGovernment and published by the Government, and (d) except where news is disseminated by the private media, news, namely a report of fresh events or current information made by the media, whether published in written form, by broadcast, or communicated to the public by any other means. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/1789 | |
25 | Guinea | No | There are no exemptions under Act No. 043/APN/CP of August 9, 1980, adopting Provisions Relating to Copyright and Neighboring Rights | N/A | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/7716 | |
26 | Guinea Bissau | Yes | Art. 6(2) of the Copyright Code (approved by Decree-Law No. 46.980) | Art. 6(2) Such protection shall not apply to the following: (a) titles consisting of a generic, designation or a necessary and habitual designation of the subject matter of works of a certain kinds, such as Civil Law Treaty, Physics Course, Compendium of Ethics, Trade Law Handbook, History of Portugal, Commentary on the Civil Code; (b) titles consisting of the names of historical/mythological figures or characters from historical fiction, such as Ines de Castro or Electra. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/272169 | |
27 | Kenya | Yes | Under the definition of 'literary work' of Copyright Act, 2001 (Act No. 12 of 2001, as amended up to Act No. 20 of 2019) | "literary work" means, irrespective of literary quality, any of the following, or works similar thereto- (a) novels, stories and poetic works; (b) plays, stage directions, film sceneries and broadcasting scripts; (c) textbooks, treatises, histories, biographies, essays and articles; (d) encyclopaedias and dictionaries; (e) letters, reports and memoranda; (f) lectures, addresses and sermons; (g) charts and tables; (h) computer programs; and (i) tables and compilations of data including tables and compilations of data stored and embodied in a computer or a medium used in conjunction with a computer, but does not include a written law or a judicial decision; | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/21318 | |
28 | Lesotho | Yes | Section 5 of Copyright Order 1989 (Order No.13 of 1989) | Section 5: Subject matter not protected Notwithstanding sections 3 and 4, protection shall not extend to, (a) rules or decisions of courts and administrative bodies, as well as to official translation thereof; (b) news of the day published, broadcast or publicly communicated by any other means ; and (c) mere communications of facts and data | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/209919 | |
29 | Liberia | Yes | Section 9(4) of An Act to Repeal an Act Adopting a New Copyright Law of the Republic of Liberia approved July 23, 1997 | Section 9(4): Subject Matter Not Protected Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 9.2 and 9.3 of this Part, no protection shall extend under this Part to: a) any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, mathematical concept, principle, discovery or mere data; b) any official legislative, judicial, or administrative text, including the Laws of the Government of Liberia, as well as any official translation thereof; c) news of the day or miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information; and d) political speeches and speeches delivered in the course of legal proceedings. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/439552 | |
30 | Libya | Yes | Art. 4 of Law No. 9 for 1968 Issuing the Copyright Protection Law | Protection shall not include the following: 1- Collections which comprise various works such as verse, prose and music anthologies and other collections, without affecting the copyrights of the author of each work. 2- Collections of work which have become public property. 3- Collections of official documents such as texts of laws, decrees, regulations, international agreements, legal judgments and various official documents. However, the above mentioned collections shall enjoy protection if they are characterized by innovation, arrangement or any other personal effort worthy of protection. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/234541 | |
31 | Madagascar | Yes | Art. 47 of Law No. 94-036 of September 18, 1995, on Literary and Artistic Property | Article 47 – Notwithstanding the provisions of Title II, Chapter II, on proprietary rights, it shall be permitted, without authorization from the author and without payment of remuneration, to reproduce a work intended for a judicial or administrative procedure, to the extent warranted by the goal to be achieved. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/186143 | |
32 | Malawi | Yes | Section 28(1) of Copyright Act, 2016 (Act No. 26 of 2016) | Section 28(1): Copyright protection shall not extend to -- (a) written laws and decisions of courts and administrative bodies and to official translations thereof; (b) news published, broadcast or communicated to the public by any other means; (c) a report made by a commission appointed by the Government or any agency thereof and which the Government has made available to the public. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/446811 | |
33 | Mali | Yes | Art. 10 of Loi n° 08-024 du 23 juillet 2008 fixant le régime de la propriété littéraire et artistique en République du Mali | La protection prévue par la présente loi ne s’étend pas : a) aux textes officiels de nature législative, administrative ou judiciaire, ni à leurs traductions officielles ; b) aux nouvelles du jour ; et, c) aux simples faits et données. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/197931 | |
34 | Mauritania | Yes | Art. 11 of Law No. 2012-038 of July 17, 2012, on Literary and Artistic Property | Les lois et règlements, les décisions et les actes administratifs des organes de l’État et des collectivités locales, les décisions de justice et la traduction officielle de ces textes ne sont pas soumises à la protection des droits d’auteur prévue par la présente loi. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/19361 | |
35 | Mauritius | Yes | Art. 5 of The Copyright Act 2014 (Act No. 2 of 2014) | Subject matter not protected Notwithstanding sections 3 and 4, no protection under this Act shall extend to — (a) any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data; (b) any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof (c) news of the day or miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information; (d) political speeches and speeches delivered in the course of legal proceedings; (e) judgment of a court of law or tribunal. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/539950 | |
36 | Morocco | Yes | Art. 8 of Loi n° 2-00 relative aux droits d'auteur et droits voisins (promulguée par le Dahir n° 1-00-20 du 9 kaada 1420 (15 février 2000), et modifiée jusqu'à la loi n° 79-12) | La protection prévue par la présente loi ne s'étend pas : a. aux textes officiels de nature législative, administrative ou judiciaire, ni à leurs traductions officielles ; b. aux nouvelles du jour ; c. aux idées, procédés, systèmes, méthodes de fonctionnement, concepts, principes, découvertes ou simples données, même si ceux-ci sont énoncés, décrits, expliqués, illustrés ou incorporés dans une oeuvre. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/567222 | |
37 | Mozambique | Yes | Art. 7 of Lei n.º 9/2022 de 29 de junho 2022 dos Direitos do Autor e Direitos Conexos e revoga a Lei n.º 4/2001 de 27 de fevereiro 2001 | 1. A protecção prevista na presente Lei não se aplica: a) à textos oficiais de natureza legislativa, administrativa ou judicial, nem às suas traduções oficiais; b) às notícias do dia e relatos de acontecimentos com carácter de simples informação; c) à simples factos e dados; a) à discursos políticos, salvo quando reunidos em volume pelos seus titulares; e) a ideias, processos, métodos operacionais ou conceitos matemáticos, princípios ou descobertas; f) à títulos consistentes em designação genérica, necessária ou usual do tema ou objecto de obras de certo género; g) à títulos exclusivamente constituídos por nomes de personagens históricas, histórico-dramáticas ou literárias e mitológicas ou por nomes de personalidades vivas. 2. Os textos previstos na alfnea a), do número l do presente artigo podem incorporar obras protegidas, sem o consentimento prévio e sem qualquer benefício pela incorporação. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/585189 | |
38 | Namibia | Yes | Section 15(8) of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act, 1994 (Act No. 6 of 1994, as amended up to Act No. 8 of 2016) | 15(8) No copyright shall subsist in -- (a) the official text of any work of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, or an official translation thereof; (b) a speech of a political nature or a speech delivered in the course of judicial proceedings; or (c) publications or broadcasts of news of the day, but the author of speeches referrred to in paragraph (b) shall have the exclusive right of making or publishing a collection thereof. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/584515 | |
39 | Niger | Yes | Art. 6 of Decree No. 93-027 of March 30, 1993, on Copyright, Neighbouring Rights and Folklore | Article 6: Subject Matter not Protected The protection afforded by this Decree shall not extend to: (i) official texts of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature, or to the official translations thereof; (ii) news of the day; (iii) simple facts and data | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/497185 | |
40 | Nigeria | Yes | Section 3 of Copyright Act, 2022 (Act No.8 of 2022) and section 108 - the definition of literary work | Section 3. The following shall not be eligible for copyright —
(a) ideas, procedures, processes, formats, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discoveries or mere data ; (b) official texts of a legislative or administrative nature as well as any official translations, except their compilations ; and (c) official state symbols and insignia, including flags, coat-of-arms, anthems, and banknote designs. section 108 Definition of “literary work” includes, irrespective of literary quality, any of the following works or similar works — ... (i) law reports, excluding decisions of courts ; | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/586899 | |
41 | Rwanda | Yes | Art. 198 of Law No. 31/2009 of 26/10/2009 on the Protection of Intellectual Property | Article 198: Works not protected The protection provided under this Law shall not extend to: 1° any official texts of a legislative, administrative or judiciary nature, as well as any official translation thereof; 2° published daily news or news communicated to the public; 3° any idea, procedure, system, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discovery or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/498148 | |
42 | Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic | Yes | The country does not have a law regulating copryght, therefore all works are public domain. | |||
43 | São Tomé and Príncipe | Yes | Art. 8 of Copyright and Related Rights Code (approved by Decree-Law No. 02/2017) | ARTICLE 8 COMPILATIONS AND ANNOTATIONS OF OFFICIAL TEXTS 1 . Compiled or annotated texts referred to in paragraph 1c) of article 3, and their oficial translations, are not protected. 2 . If the texts referred to in the previous paragraph include protected works, these may be used without the consent of the author and without conferring on him any right in the context of the activity of the public service concerned. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/497465 | |
44 | Senegal | Yes | Art. 9 of Law No. 2008-09 of January 25, 2008, on Copyright and Related Rights | Article 9. Official texts. – Copyright protection under the present Law shall not extend to official texts of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature or to official translations thereof. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/498404 | |
45 | Seychelles | Yes | Art. 18 of Copyright Act, 2014 (Act No. 5 of 2014) | 18. A work may be used for the purposes of public security and to ensure the proper performance or reporting of administrative, parliamentary or judicial proceedings. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/344478 | |
46 | Sierra Leone | Yes | Art. 7 of The Copyright Act, 2011 (Act No. 8 of 2011) | Article 7: Notwithstanding sections 4 and 5, no protection shall extend under this Act to -- (a) any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data, even if expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; or (b) any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature or any of its official translations. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/328521 | |
47 | Somaliland | Yes | Art. 5 of Law No. 66 of 7 September 1977 | Works not protected These are listed in the Law (Art. 5) as being - Laws and governmental statutory instruments. Notices of orders, warning circulars and other similar items issued by the branches of the government or by independent agencies, and official translations relating to the notices orders and warning circulars. Political speeches and addresses lawyers give in court proceedings and the official translations of these speeches. Judicial decisions, orders, judgments and court decrees, and administrative decisions of governmental bodies. The daily news broadcasts on radio (or television) for communication to the public. This, in my view, appears to relate to the content of the news, rather than the actual broadcast itself and the way it has been put together. Note also news reports also fall under the fair dealing (or use) exceptions. | http://www.somalilandlaw.com/somaliland_copyright_law.html | |
48 | South Africa | Yes | Section 8(a) of Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978, as amended up to Copyright Amendment Act 2002) | (8) (a) No copyright shall subsist in official texts of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, or in official translations of such texts, or in speeches of a political nature or in speeches delivered in the course of legal proceedings, or in news of the day that are mere items of press information. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/4067 | |
49 | South Sudan | Yes | Section 6 of The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 1996 | 6. The protection prescribed by this Act shall not extend to: (a) works which have fallen into the public domain; (b) official documents; (c) daily news or occurrences of like nature published in newspapers, magazines or other periodicals or broadcast by radio or television; (d) ideas, methods, state emblems and symbols. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/11278 | |
50 | Sudan | Yes | Section 6 of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection and Literal and Artistic Works Act, 2013 | 6. The protection prescribed under the provisions of this Act shall not lnclude :- (a) works which are vested into public domain ; (b) official document ; (c) daily news paper and different events which described as a journalist information; (d) ideas, procedures and methods of work, mathematics base, prlnclples, and mere facts , and methods of creation of work. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/19710 | |
51 | Tanzania | Yes | Art. 7(a) of The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 1999 (Act No. 7 of 1999) | Article 7(a): Notwithstanding the subject matter of sections 5 and 6, protection shall not extend to - (a) laws and decisions of courts and administrative bodies as well as to official translations therefore; | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/179714 | |
52 | Togo | Yes | Art. 20 of Law No. 91-12 of June 10, 1991, on the Protection of Copyright, Folklore and Related Rights | Art. 20 – When the work has been lawfully made accessible to the public, the author may not prevent it from being used as follows: 1 communication such as performance or broadcast: (a) if these are private, carried out exclusively within the family circle, and give rise to no form of revenue: (b) if these are carried out free of charge and for strictly educational or teaching purposes or during a religious service in premises reserved for that end; 2 –reproduction, translations and adaptations, designed for strictly personal and private use; 3 – parody, pastiche and caricature, taking account of the laws of the genre. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/498790 | |
53 | Tunisia | Yes | Chapter 1 of Loi n° 94-36 du 24 février 1994, relative à la propriété littéraire et artistique (telle que modifiée et complétée par la loi n° 2009-33 du 23 juin 2009) | La protection au titre du droit d'auteur s'étend aux expressions et ne couvre pas: - Les idées, procédures, méthodes de fonctionnement ou concepts mathématiques, en tant que tels; - Les textes officiels d'ordre législatif, administratif ou judiciaire et leurs traductions officielles. - Les nouvelles du jour ou les faits divers qui ont le caractère de simples informations de presse. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/583919 | |
54 | Uganda | Yes | Art. 7(1) of The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 2006 (Act No. 19 of 2006) | 7. Public benefit works not protected. (1) The right to protection of copyrights under this Act shall not extend to the following works— (a) an enactment including an Act, Statute, Decree, statutory instruments or other law made by the Legislature or other authorised body; (b) decree, order or other decision by a court of law for the administration of justice and any official translations from them; (c) a report made by a committee or commission of inquiry appointed by Government or any agency of Government; (d) news of the day namely reports of fresh events or current information by the media whether published in a written form, broadcast, internet or communicated to the public by any other means. | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/3922 | |
55 | Zambia | Yes | Section 8(2) and section 21(1)(d) of The Copyright and Performance Rights Act, 1994 (Act No. 44 of 1994, as amended by Act No. 13 of 1994) | Section 8(2) Copyright shall not subsist in a Bill introduced into Parliament or in an Act of Parliament. Section 21 (1)(d) Subject to sub-section (2), the following acts shall not constitute infringement of copyright: ... (d) the reproduction of a work for the purposes of judicial proceedings, or of any other proceedings before a tribunal established by law, or for the purposes of a report of judicial proceedings or any other such proceedings; | https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/584000 | |
56 | Zimbabwe | Yes | Full exemption does not exist according to section 10(6) of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act (Chapter 26:05, as amended up to Act No. 32 of 2004) | Section 10(6) The following public documents shall not be eligible for copyright— (a) official texts of enactments; (b) official texts of Bills prepared for presentation in Parliament; (c) official records of judicial proceedings and decisions; (d) notices, advertisements and other material published in the Gazette; (e) applications, specifications and other matters published in the Patent and Trade Marks Journal referred to in section 95 of the Patents Act [Chapter 26:03]; (f) official texts of international conventions, treaties and agreements to which Zimbabwe is a party; (g) entries in, and documents that form part of, any register which is kept in terms of an enactment and is open to public inspection; (h) such other documents of a public nature as may be prescribed: Provided that this subsection shall not be taken to limit the provisions of any other law which may prohibit or restrict the reproducing, publishing or altering of any such public document. | https://zimlii.org/akn/zw/act/2000/11/eng@2004-09-10#part_II__sec_10 |