According to the
Decree no. 321/1956 of June 18,
1956
Chapter 1 Article 7
, non-artistic photographs were not expressly protected by copyright. Artistic photographs taken between 1956 and 1996 are protected by copyright for a limited term, as follows:
(b) 10 years since issuance for the author of an artistic photographic series
(c) 5 years since issuance for the author of an isolated artistic photograph
Of the aforementioned photographs, those whose term hadn't expired before 1996 received a considerable prolongation, according to the
Romanian Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Law no. 8/1996 of March 14,
1996
Article 149, Paragraph 3
, modified by
Law no. 285/2004 of June 23,
2004
, Article 128
:
The length of copyright over works that have been
created before
the enforcement of this law and whose
protection terms had not expired
according to the previous legislation are prolonged to the protection term provided by this law.
Therefore, Romanian artistic photographs whose protection term expired before 1996 are now in the public domain. These include
photographic series published before 1986
and
isolated photographs published before 1991
. As a courtesy, please credit the author whenever using the photograph.
