Copyright rules: the Dominican Republic Shortcut: COM:Dominican Republic
Durations
Standard	Life + 70 years
Photograph	Publish or Create + 70 years
Anonymous	Create/publish + 70 years
Audiovisual	Publish or Create + 70 years
Collective	Create/publish + 70 years
Government	Create/publish + 70 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Terms run to year end	Yes
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	DOM
Treaties
Berne convention	24 December 1997
Univ. Copyright Convention	8 May 1983
WTO member	9 March 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
WIPO treaty	10 January 2006
*‌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 the Dominican Republic relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in the Dominican Republic must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both the Dominican Republic 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 the Dominican Republic, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The island of Hispaniola was colonized by the Spanish in the late 15th century. The eastern part became independent in 1821. In the years that followed, periods of independence alternated with control by Haiti, Spain and the United States. The last US occupation ended in 1966.

The Dominican Republic has been a member of the Universal Copyright Convention since 8 May 1983, the World Trade Organization since 9 March 1995, the Berne Convention since 24 December 1997, and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 10 January 2006.^[1]

Governing laws

As of 2025 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 65-00 on August 21, 2000, on Copyright as the main copyright law enacted by the legislature of the Dominican Republic.^[1] WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.^[2] The law was modified by both Law No. 424-06 of November 14, 2006, on Implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)^[3] and Law No. 2-07 of January 8, 2007.^[4] The 2007 amendment did not affect definitions of works or duration of copyright.

The 2006 revision of the law, done to fulfill their obligations with the Dominican Republic–Central America–United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), extended the copyright duration to 70 years and revoked the complete freedom of panorama right. This revision is effective beginning on 1 March 2007, the date the Dominican Republic implemented the free trade agreement.

• "The amendments contained in the present Law shall enter into force on, and therefore shall be applicable only from, the entry into force of the Agreement."^{[424-06/2006 Article 76]}

Concerning the rights in existing works, according to the Law No. 424-06 of November 14, 2006:

• "Rights in works, performances, phonograms and broadcast programs protected under Law No. 65­00 on Copyright shall enjoy the longer periods of protection established by the present Law, provided that, at the time of its enactment, they have not fallen into the public domain."^{[424-06/2006 Article 64]}

Repealed laws

Law No. 65-00 (2000) repealed the Law No. 32-86 (1986), which in turn repealed the Law No. 1381 on Registration and Protection of Intellectual Property (1947).^[5]

Applicability

Under Law No. 65-00 of 21 August 2000, copyright protects:

• works expressed in writing, in the form of books, magazines, pamphlets or other texts;
• lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of the same nature;
• dramatic or dramaticomusical works and other stage works;
• choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show;
• musical compositions with or without words;
• audiovisual works, to which are assimilated works expressed by an analogous process, fixed in any type of medium;
• works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography and other artistic works;
• photographic works, to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography;
• works of applied art;
• illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and threedimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or the sciences;
• computer programs, under the same terms as literary works, whether in source or object code, or in any other form of expression, including technical documentation and user manuals;
• databases or compilations of data or other material, in machinereadable or any other form, which by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations, but not the data or the material themselves and without prejudice to any copyright existing in works that may be the subject of the database or complilation;
• lastly, any literary or artistic production or literary or artistic expression in the scientific domain that can be disclosed, fixed or reproduced by any means or process known or as yet unknown.^{[65-00/2000 Article 2(1-13)]}

General rules

Under the 2000 law, before CAFTA-DR revision

Under Law No. 65-00 of 21 August 2000,

• Copyright shall accrue to the author during his lifetime and to his spouse, heirs and successors in title for 50 years after his death.^{[65-00/2000 Article 21]}
• In the case of duly established joint authorship, the period of 50 years shall commence on the death of the last joint author.^{[65-00/2000 Article 21]}
• Anonymous works shall be protected for a period of 50 years from the first publication thereof or, failing that, from the making thereof.^{[65-00/2000 Article 24]}

• Collective works and computer programs shall be protected for 50 years from publication or, failing that, from the making thereof.^{[65-00/2000 Article 25]}
• For photographs, the duration of copyright shall be 50 years from first publication or public display or, failing that, from the making thereof.^{[65-00/2000 Article 26]}
• Audiovisual works shall be protected for 70 years from first publication or presentation or, failing that, from the making thereof, without prejudice to the rights in original works incorporated in productions.^{[65-00/2000 Article 27]}

The periods established in the present Chapter shall be calculated from January 1 of the year following that of the death of the author or, where appropriate, that of the disclosure, publication or making of the work.^{[65-00/2000 Article 28]}

Under the 2000 law, since the CAFTA-DR revision (effective 2007)

• The economic aspects of copyright shall accrue to the author during his lifetime and to his spouse, heirs and successors in title for 70 years after his death; where the author has no spouse, heirs or successors in title, the State shall remain the right holder until the period of 70 years following the author's death has elapsed. In the case of duly established joint authorship, the period of 70 years shall commence on the death of the last joint author.^{[65-00/2000 Article 21 (CAFTA-DR amended)]}
• Anonymous works shall be protected for a period of 70 years from the first publication thereof. Where the work is not published within 50 years of being created, it shall be protected for a period of 70 years after it is created. Where the author reveals his identity, protection shall last for his lifetime and for a further 70 years after his death.^{[65-00/2000 Article 24 (CAFTA-DR amended)]}
• Collective works and computer programs shall be protected for 70 years from publication. Where the work is not published within 50 years of being created, it shall be protected for a period of 70 years after it is created.^{[65-00/2000 Article 25 (CAFTA-DR amended)]}
• For photographs, the duration of copyright shall be 70 years from first publication. Where a work is not published within 50 years of being created, it shall be protected for a period of 70 years after it is created.^{[65-00/2000 Article 26 (CAFTA-DR amended)]}

Audiovisual works retained the same 70-year copyright term from the pre-CAFTA-DR version of the law.

Previous laws

In the previous law, Law No. 32-86 on Copyright (1981),^[5] the copyright term of photographs was only 10 years from publication but it seems that the 2000 law restored copyright on those less than 50 years old. However, this means photographs published before 1986 were not eligible for URAA restoration in the United States. Copyright for authorial works was the same as that of the duration under the 2000 law: 50-year term.

Commissioned works