PCBaller World/North Germany/Öffentlich-Rechtliches-Copyright-Gesetz 2027

Logo of the Law

The Öffentlich-Rechtliches-Copyright-Gesetz 2027, often translated into English as the 2027 Public Broadcasting Copyright Law, is a law enacted in the North German People's State on the 27th January 2027 that regulates the copyright status of all media produced by the North German state, government, public broadcasters, and other subordinate authorities that are financed in whole or majority by the state and/or government, and by extension the North German population as a whole.

Content

The law allows every North German citizen to access, use, reupload, comment, and redistribute unaltered state-funded digital media and intellectual property. The law however prevents the redistribution of said media under the false pretense that the distributor is the owner and/or creator of the work and/or impersonating the actual producers of the work. Some alternations to the media in question may be regarded as illegal under different laws.

International question

It has led to discussion if the law applies to non-citizen and international foreigners as well, due to the international nature of the Internet. This discussion is little addressed however due to it not being seen as important to acknowledge outer-country copyright affairs as the state has no jurisdiction over said foreigners regardless. Despite this, a public statement by the President in 2028 clarified that the law does apply to educational resources and wikis, such as Wikipedia. Allowing them to use the license and imagery as well. Further clarification has however not been given, and the legality of foreign distribution of the works by North German-financed media remains unclear.

Examples and use cases

Like all covers of state-produced media, the cover of "Klublieder der Neuzeit" includes a copyright note that makes reference to the law.