*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 Lithuania relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons.
Note that any work originating in Lithuania must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Lithuania 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 Lithuania, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.
Lithuania was annexed by the Russian empire in the late 18th century.
Towards the end of World War I, Lithuania declared independence on 16 February 1918.
During World War II, Lithuania was occupied in turn by the Soviet Union, Germany, and then the Soviet Union for a second time.
Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union on 11 March 1990.
As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. VIII-1185 of May 18, 1999, on Copyright and Related Rights (as amended up to Law No. XII-1183 of October 7, 2014) as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of Lithuania.[1]
WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.[2]
General rules
Under Law No. VIII-1185 of 1999, as amended up to Law No. XII-1183 of 2014,
Author’s economic rights shall run for the life of the author and for 70 years after his death, irrespective of the date when the work is lawfully made available to the public.[1999–2014 Art.34.1]
The protection of the author’s moral rights shall be of unlimited duration.[1999–2014 Art.34.2]
The duration of the authors’ economic rights in a joint work shall run for the life of co-authors and for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.[1999–2014 Art.35.1]
In the case of anonymous and pseudonymous works, the term of protection of the authors' economic rights shall run for 70 years after the work is lawfully made available to the public. However, when the pseudonym adopted by the author leaves no doubt as to his identity, or if the author discloses his identity during the prescribed period, the term of protection of the author's economic rights shall run for the life of the author and for 70 years after his death.[1999–2014 Art.35.2]
In the case of collective works, the term of protection of the authors’ economic rights shall run for 70 years after the work is lawfully made available to the public. In cases where the natural persons who have created the work leave no doubt as to their identity, provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply.[1999–2014 Art.35.5]
The term of protection of authors’ economic rights in an audiovisual work shall extend over the life of the principal director, author of the screenplay, author of the dialogue, art director, director of photography and the composer of music specifically created for the audiovisual work, and for 70 years after the death of the last of them to survive.[1999–2014 Art.35.7]
The economic rights of the authors of a musical composition with words shall run for the life of the authors (the composer of the musical composition and the author of the lyrics) and for 70 years after the death of the last of the authors to survive, whether or not those persons are designated as co-authors, provided that both contributions (music and words) were specifically created for the respective musical composition with words.[1999–2014 Art.35.8]
A natural or legal person who, after the expiry of copyright protection, for the first time lawfully publishes or lawfully communicates to the public a previously unpublished work, shall benefit from a protection equivalent to the exclusive economic rights in the work, laid down in paragraph 1 of Article 15 of this Law.[1999–2014 Art.36.1] The duration of the rights specified in paragraph 1 of this Article shall extend over 25 years from the date of the first lawful publication of the work or the first lawful communication to the public of the work.[1999–2014 Art.36.3]
The terms laid down in Articles 34-36 shall be calculated from the first day of January of the year following the event which gives rise to them.[1999–2014 Art.37.1]
Under Law No. VIII-1185 of 1999, as amended up to Law No. XII-1183 of 2014, the following are not subject to copyright:
ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, discoveries or mere data;[1999–2014 Art.5.1]
legal acts, official documents texts of administrative, legal or regulative nature (decisions, rulings, regulations, norms, territorial planning and other official documents), as well as their official translations;[1999–2014 Art.5.2]
official State symbols and insignia (flags, coat-of-arms, anthems, banknote designs, and other State symbols and insignia) the protection of which is regulated by other legal acts;[1999–2014 Art.5.3]
officially registered drafts of legal acts;[1999–2014 Art.5.4]
regular information reports on events;[1999–2014 Art.5.5]
{{PD-LT-exempt}} – for official Lithuanian State symbols and insignia (flags, coats-of-arms, anthems, banknote designs, and other State symbols and insignia).
{{PD-old-70}} – for works where the author died more than 70 years ago
OK The designs of Lithuanian currency, including the national sides of its Euro coins, are not copyrighted.
Monetary items, together with other state symbols, are explicitly excluded from copyright by article 5 of Copyright law of Lithuania.
Please use {{PD-LT-exempt}} for Lithuanian currency images.
Not OK{{NoFoP-Lithuania}} Commercial use of reproductions of works of architecture or sculpture in public places is not allowed when the work is the main subject and it is used commercially.
Under Law No. VIII-1185 of 1999, as amended up to Law No. XII-1183 of 2014, Article 28,
It shall be permitted to carry out the following acts without the authorisation of an author or any other owner of copyright and without a remuneration, as long as the source, including the author's name, is indicated, unless this turns out to be impossible: to reproduce and make available to the public works of architecture and sculptures, made to be located permanently in public places, except for the cases where they are displayed in exhibitions and museums;[1999–2014 Art.28.1.1]
The provisions of Art.28.1.1 shall not be applied when a work of architecture or a sculpture is the main subject of representation in the reproduction, and when this is done for direct or indirect commercial advantage.[1999–2014 Art.28.2]
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
OK The designs of Lithuanian currency, including the national sides of its Euro coins, are not copyrighted.
Monetary items, together with other state symbols, are explicitly excluded from copyright by article 5 of Copyright law of Lithuania.
Please use {{PD-LT-exempt}} for Lithuanian currency images.
Not OK {{NoFoP-Lithuania}} Commercial use of reproductions of works of architecture or sculpture in public places is not allowed when the work is the main subject and it is used commercially.
Under Law No. VIII-1185 of 1999, as amended up to Law No. XII-1183 of 2014, Article 28,
use {{PD-LT-exempt}}.
