Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Turkey

Copyright rules: Turkey Shortcut: COM:TURKEY
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Turkey}} {{PD-TR-currency}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	TUR
Treaties
Berne convention	1 January 1952
WTO member	26 March 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	28 November 2008
*‌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.

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

Background

The modern republic of Turkey was formed in 1923 as a successor state to the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey has been a member of the Berne Convention since 1 January 1952, the World Trade Organization since 26 March 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 28 November 2008.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 5846 of December 5, 1951, on Intellectual and Artistic Works (as amended up to decision no 2020/29 of Constitutional Court of Turkey on July 17, 2020) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Turkey. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

Under Law No. 5846 of December 5, 1951 (as amended up to decision no 2020/29 of Constitutional Court of Turkey on July 17, 2020),

• The author of a work is the one who made it. The author of a adaptation and compilation is who processes it, provided that the rights of the original author are protected.^{[5846/1951 Article 8]}
• The rights in works created by civil servants, employees and workers during the execution of their duties shall be exercised by the persons who employ or appoint them; provided that the contrary may not be deduced from a special contract between such persons or from the nature of the work.^{[5846/1951 Article 18]}
• The term of protection shall last for the lifetime of the author and for 70 years after his death.^{[5846/1951 Article 27]}
• If there is more than one author, this period shall end upon the expiry of 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.^{[5846/1951 Article 27]}
• The term of protection for works that have been first made public after the death of the author shall be 70 years after the date of death.^{[5846/1951 Article 27]}
• The term of protection for anonymous works where the author remains unknown shall be 70 years from the date on which the work was made public.^{[5846/1951 Article 27]}
• If the first author is a legal person, the term of protection shall be 70 years from the date on which the work was made public.^{[5846/1951 Article 27]}

Previous term

The original 1951 copyright law had a copyright term of 50 years before being extended to 70 years in 1995.

Not protected

Shortcut

• COM:NOP Turkey

See also: Commons:Unprotected works

The reproduction, distribution, adaptation or exploitation in any other form of laws, by­laws, regulations, notifications, circulars and court decisions that have been officially published or announced is permitted.^{[5846/1951 Article 31]}

Copyright tags

Shortcut

• COM:TAG Turkey

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD-Turkey}} for works whose author died more than 70 years ago, and anonymous works published more than 70 years ago.
• {{PD-TR-currency}} for images of Turkish currency.
• {{Legislation-TR}} for Turkish legislation

Currency

Shortcut

• COM:CUR Turkey

See also: Commons:Currency

OK: Electronic reproductions of banknotes and coins are permitted by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, under the following conditions:

• They must not exceed 72 dpi (dots per inch); and
• The expression “ÖRNEKTİR GEÇMEZ” or “SPECIMEN” must be printed diagonally across the reproduction in Arial font or a font similar to Arial font. The length of the expression “ÖRNEKTİR GEÇMEZ” or “SPECIMEN” must be at least 75 percent of the length of reproduction, and the height thereof must be at least 15 percent of the width of the reproduction. The characters must be written in a non-transparent (opaque) color contrasting with the dominant color of the respective banknote. In two-sided reproductions, the abovementioned expression must be printed on both sides.

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Turkey

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK only for exterior architecture and artistic works permanently found on public streets, avenues, and squares.  Not OK for interior architecture and artistic works found in other types of public places (like outdoor parks or museum indoors). {{FoP-Turkey}} Under Law No. 5846 of December 5, 1951 (as amended up to decision no 2020/29 of Constitutional Court of Turkey on July 17, 2020),

• Works of fine arts permanently placed on public streets, avenues or squares may be reproduced by drawings, graphics, photographs and the like, distributed, shown by projection in public premises or broadcast by radio or similar means. For architectural works, this freedom is only valid for the exterior form.^{[5846/1951 Article 40]}
• Works of fine arts are the following works, which have aesthetic value: Oil paintings or water colors, all types of drawings, patterns, pastels, engravings, artistic scripts and gildings, works drawn or fixed on metal, stone, wood or other material by engraving, carving, ornamental inlay or similar methods, calligraphy, silk screen printing; Sculptures, reliefs and carvings; Architectural works; Handicraft and minor works of art, miniatures and works of ornamentation, textiles, fashion designs; Photographic works and slides; Graphic works; Cartoons; All kinds of personifications.^{[5846/1951 Article 4]}

See also Commons talk:Freedom of panorama/Archive 9#Turkey for a discussion about Turkish freedom of panorama.

Stamps

See also: Commons:Stamps

Under Law No. 5846 of December 5, 1951 (as amended up to decision no 2020/29 of Constitutional Court of Turkey on July 17, 2020),

• The rights in works created by civil servants, employees and workers during the execution of their duties shall be exercised by the persons who employ or appoint them; provided that the contrary may not be deduced from a special contract between such persons or from the nature of the work.^{[5846/1951 Article 18]}
• If the first author is a legal person, the term of protection shall be 70 years from the date on which the work was made public.^{[5846/1951 Article 27]}

The copyright for stamps therefore belongs to the Turkish government and lasts 70 years from publication. Thus, any stamp issued 70 or more years ago (published before 1 January 1954) is public domain.

Threshold of originality

Shortcut

• COM:TOO Turkey

See also: Commons:Threshold of originality

Might be OK The Turkish copyright laws depend on the work bearing the characteristics of its creator while deciding whether the work is original, and considered on a case-by-case basis.

See also

• Türkiye
• Category:License tags of Turkey
• Category:Stamps of Turkey
• Category:Turkish FOP cases
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Ottoman Empire

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer