Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Abkhazia

Abkhazia was absorbed by the Russian Empire during the 19th century. In 1931 Joseph Stalin made Abkhazia an autonomous republic (Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) within the Georgian SSR. In April 1991 Georgia became fully independent of the Soviet Union. In 1992–93 Abkhazia gained de-facto independence under the protection of Russia. The breakaway region has not gained international recognition.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, did not include Abkhazia among the WIPO/WTO/UN Members.^[1] Abkhazia is not mentioned in Circular 38A on International Copyright Relations of the United States.^[2] Presumably Abkhazian works would be protected in the United States under the terms that apply to Georgia.

Copyright rules in Abkazia are defined by the Law 1227-с-XIV of the Republic of Abkhazia on Copyright and Related Rights (2006).^[3] The law, which took effect as of 1 July 2006, replaced Section IV "Copyright" of the Civil Code of the Republic of Abkhazia of 10 March 1993 and Section IV "Copyright" of the Fundamental Principles of Civil Legislation of the USSR and the Republic of 15 June 2001.^{[2006 Art. 54]}

Under the 2006 Law on Copyright and Related Rights,

• Copyright is valid for the life of the author and for 70 years after his death, regardless of the date when this work was published, except as otherwise provided below.^{[2006 Art. 21.1]}
• Copyright in a work made public anonymously or under a pseudonym is valid for 70 years after the date of its lawful promulgation, unless the author becomes known during this period.^{[2006 Art. 21.3]}
• Copyright in a work created in co-authorship lasts for the life and 70 years after the death of the last surviving co-author.^{[2006 Art. 21.4]}
• Copyright in a work first published after the death of the author is valid for 70 years after its release.^{[2006 Art. 21.5]} If the author has been repressed and rehabilitated posthumously, the term of protection of rights provided for in this article shall begin on 1 January of the year following the year of rehabilitation. If the author worked during the Great Patriotic War or the Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia 1992-1993, or participated in one of them, the term of protection of copyright, provided for in this article, is increased by 4 and 1.5 years, respectively.^{[2006 Art. 21.5]}
• Calculation of the above dates begins on 1 January of the year following the year of the event on which the duration is based.^{[2006 Art. 21.6]}

See also: Commons:Unprotected works

Under the 2006 Law on Copyright and Related Rights the following are not objects of copyright^{[2006 Art.8]}:

• official documents (laws, court decisions, other texts of legislative, administrative and judicial nature), as well as their official translations;
• state symbols and signs (flags, emblems, orders, bank notes and other state symbols and signs);
• works of folk art;
• messages about events and facts of informational nature.

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD-AB-exempt}} for works that are not objects of copyright.

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

  Not OK. Only incidental, non-commercial use allowed. Under the 2006 Law on Copyright and Related Rights,

• It is allowed without the consent of the author and without paying the author's fee to reproduce, broadcast or communicate to the public by cable of works of architecture, photography or fine art which are permanently located in a place open to the public, except when the image of the work is the main object such reproduction, transmission or broadcast to the public by cable or when the image of the work is used for commercial purposes.^{[2006 Art.21]}

See also: Commons:Stamps

  use {{PD-AB-exempt}}

• Аԥсны
• Category:Abkhazian FOP cases
• Category:Postage stamps of Abkhazia
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Georgia
• Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Soviet Union