Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Guinea

Copyright rules: Guinea Shortcut: COM:GUINEA
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Anonymous	Publish + 70 years
Audiovisual	Publish + 70 years
Collective	Publish + 70 years
Posthumous	Publish + 70 years
Applied art	Create + 30 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	GIN
Treaties
Berne convention	20 November 1980
Bangui Agreement	18 January 1990
WTO member	25 October 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	25 May 2002
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1930 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

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

Background

France established control of Guinea in the late 19th century and administered the region as a territory within French West Africa. After a referendum, Guinea became independent on 2 October 1958.

Guinea has been a member of the Berne Convention since 20 November 1980, the World Trade Organization since 25 October 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 25 May 2002.

Governing laws

As of 2025 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property (2019 version) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Guinea. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. It repealed the Act No. 043/APN/CP of August 9, 1980, adopting Provisions Relating to Copyright and Neighboring Rights, a copy of which is also held by the said database.

Retroactivity

2019 copyright law is not retroactive. It was adopted on 7 June 2019.

• The provisions of this law shall also apply to works created, performances or recordings made, phonograms and videograms recorded, and broadcasting programs produced before the date of entry into force of this law, provided that such works, performances or recordings, phonograms or videograms, and programs have not yet entered the public domain due to the expiration of the term of protection to which they were subject under previous legislation or under the legislation of their country of origin. The legal effects of acts and contracts entered into or stipulated before the date of entry into force of this law shall remain fully intact.^{[2019/0028 Article 126]}

General terms

• Unless otherwise provided, the economic rights to an intellectual work are protected during the author's lifetime and for seventy years after their death.^{[2019/0028 Article 39]}
• The economic rights to a collaborative work are protected during the lifetime of the last surviving author and for seventy years after their death.^{[2019/0028 Article 40]}
• The economic rights to a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym are protected until the expiration of a period of seventy years from the end of the calendar year in which such a work was lawfully first published. If the work is not published within seventy years of its creation, the economic rights are protected for seventy years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was lawfully made available to the public. If the work is not published or made available to the public, the economic rights are protected for seventy years from the calendar year in which the work was created. If, before the expiry of the periods defined in the preceding paragraphs, the author's identity is revealed or becomes beyond doubt, the provisions of Article 39 or this article shall apply.^{[2019/0028 Article 41]}
• The economic rights in a collective work, an audiovisual work, or a radio broadcast are protected until the expiration of a period of seventy years from the end of the calendar year in which such a work was lawfully first published. If no publication occurs within seventy years of the creation of this work, the economic rights are protected for seventy years from the end of the calendar year in which such a work was made available to the public. If no publication or public access to the work occurs, the economic rights are protected for seventy years from the calendar year in which the work was created.^{[2019/0028 Article 42]}
• The economic rights to a work of applied art are protected until the expiry of a period of thirty years from the date of creation of that work.^{[2019/0028 Article 43]}

Notes

• "The periods stipulated in this chapter expire at the end of the calendar year in which they normally end."^{[2019/0028 Article 44]}

Terms under the repealed laws

• 1980 act:

General rule: 80 years from the end of the year of the author's death^{[1980 Article 42]}

Joint authorship works: 80 years from the end of the year of the last surviving author's death^{[1980 Article 42]}

Anonymous, pseudonymous, cinematographic, posthumous, and/or collective works: 80 years from the end of the year in which the work is lawfully made accessible to the public^{[1980 Article 43 (a)]}

Photographs and applied art: 40 calendar years from the end of the year of the author's death^{[1980 Article 43 (b)]}

Not protected

Shortcut

• COM:NOP Guinea

See also: Commons:Unprotected works

No protection is granted on the following works:

• official texts of a legislative, administrative, or judicial nature, nor to their official translations;
• daily news; and
• mere facts and data.^{[2019/0028 Article 10]}

Public domain works and expressions of cultural heritage: not free

See also: Commons:Paying public domain

Public domain works

• The exploitation of works that have fallen into the public domain upon the expiration of the protection periods is subject to the condition that the commercial operator make a declaration and pay the corresponding royalty to the national collective rights management organization. The royalty referred to in the preceding paragraph is equal to half the rate of remuneration usually allocated to authors for their works under existing contracts or practices. The proceeds from the royalties thus collected are used for social and cultural purposes.^{[2019/0028 Article 45(second and third paragraphs)]}

Expressions of cultural heritage

Commons:Non-copyright restrictions: please use {{Guinean-heritage-disclaimer}}. See also the following discussion/s: November 2025.

• For the purposes of this law, "expressions of traditional cultural heritage" means works composed exclusively of elements characteristic of the traditional artistic and literary heritage of Guinea, or works created by individuals recognized as fulfilling the traditional artistic aspirations of that community. These works include, in particular, folk tales, folk poetry, folk songs and instrumental music, folk dances and performances, as well as artistic expressions of rituals and folk art productions. Expressions of traditional cultural heritage whose individual authors are unknown, but for whom there is every reason to believe they are nationals of the Republic of Guinea, belong to the national heritage. The same applies to expressions of traditional cultural heritage whose known individual authors have been deceased for more than seventy years.^{[2019/0028 Article 95]}
• Expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage are protected by this law against their unlawful exploitation and other harmful actions. Any publication or public communication of an identifiable expression of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage must be accompanied by an appropriate indication of its source, either by mentioning the author's name or by mentioning the community and/or geographical location from which it originates. Copies of expressions of traditional cultural heritage, as well as copies of translations, arrangements, and other transformations of these expressions, produced without authorization or declaration, as applicable, may not be imported, exported, or distributed. The protection of expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage is guaranteed without time limit.^{[2019/0028 Article 97]}
• The following uses of expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage are subject to authorization by the professional collective management body on behalf of the Ministry responsible for Culture, when they are carried out both for profit and outside their traditional or customary context: any publication, reproduction of a recording, and any distribution of copies of expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage; any public recitation, performance, or display, any transmission by wire or wireless means, and any other form of communication to the public of expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage.^{[2019/0028 Article 98]}

Derivative works of expressions of cultural heritage - possibly  Not OK for foreigners but OK for Guinean citizens

• The creation of derivative works based on expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage, such as adaptations, translations, transcriptions, collections with or without arrangement, and other transformations, is unrestricted for Guineans.^{[2019/0028 Article 99(first paragraph)]}
• It is subject to authorization for foreigners. The authorization referred to in the preceding paragraph is granted by the collective management organization, acting on behalf of the State through the Ministry of Culture, upon payment of a fee, the amount of which will be determined according to the conditions applicable to protected works of the same category. The proceeds of this fee, after deduction of management costs, will be distributed according to the procedures established by regulation.^{[2019/0028 Article 99(second and third paragraphs)]}

Management of fees to be collected from the foreigners' use of derivative works of Guinean cultural heritage

• The authorization of the professional collective management organization mentioned in the preceding article is granted upon payment of a fee, the amount of which will be determined according to the conditions in use for protected works of the same category. The proceeds of this fee, after deduction of management fees, will be paid into a cultural promotion fund. Fees owed by users for the exploitation of works derived from expressions of traditional cultural heritage belonging to the national heritage will be distributed between the rights holders and the professional collective management organization according to the provisions of the latter's distribution regulations. Fees owed for the collection of a work of traditional cultural heritage are distributed as follows:

Collection without arrangement or personal contribution: 50% to the person who carried out the collection, 50% to the Guinean Copyright Office (BGDA);

Collection with arrangement or adaptation: 75% to the author, 25% to the Guinean Copyright Office (BGDA).^{[2019/0028 Article 100]}

Permitted free uses of Guinean cultural heritage

• "The exceptions to copyright provided for by this law apply mutatis mutandis to expressions of traditional cultural heritage."^{[2019/0028 Article 101]}

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Guinea

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

 Not OK: Non-commercial use only under the 2019 law (but non-commercial content is not allowed according to Commons:Licensing); free use in audio-visual media only under the repealed 1980 law.

Under the Law on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property (Law L/2019/0028/AN):

• By way of derogation from authors' rights, it is permitted to reproduce, broadcast or communicate by cable to the public an image of a work of architecture, a work of fine art, a photographic work or a work of applied art permanently located in a place open to the public, unless the image of the work is the main subject of such reproduction or communication and if it is used for commercial purposes.^{[2019/0028 Article 27]}

"The limitations provided for in this chapter must not prejudice the normal exploitation of the work, nor cause unjustified harm to the legitimate interests of the author."^{[2019/0028 Article 29]}

Under the now-repealed Act No. 043/APN/CP of August 9, 1980:

• It shall be lawful to reproduce in a film or in a television broadcast and to communicate to the public works of figurative art permanently located in a public place, or whose inclusion in the film or broadcast is only by way of background or is incidental to the essential matters represented.^{[1980 Article 14]}

See also: Category:Guinean FOP cases.

See also

• Guinée
• Category:Postage stamps of Guinea

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