Selected year snapshot
For 1990, the active event in this file is Loi n° 91-12 du 10 juin 1991 portant protection du droit d'auteur, du folklore et des droits voisins.
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Current rationale
The baseline date is 1990-01-01. Togo's first modern copyright law is Loi n° 91-12 du 10 juin 1991, which entered into force after 1990-01-01. Prior to this law, Togo's copyright regime was governed by inherited French colonial-era provisions (the French law of 11 March 1957 as applicable in former French West Africa) and possibly by Ordonnance n° 6 of 1975 establishing BUTODRA. I was unable to retrieve or verify the full text of any copyright statute actually in force in Togo on 1990-01-01 via web search. The PDF of Loi n° 91-12 retrieved from the Togolese government commerce site and referenced on WIPO Lex is heavily OCR-damaged and the specific articles on exceptions (Arts. 15-17) could not be read verbatim from the retrieved text. Therefore, the baseline must be recorded as AMBIGUOUS with the true 1990-01-01 law unverified.
Law changes
Loi n° 91-12 du 10 juin 1991 portant protection du droit d'auteur, du folklore et des droits voisins
Baseline · Effective 1990-01-01
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Relevant section: Art. 15, Art. 16, Art. 17
Dates: Effective 1990-01-01
Why this score
The baseline date is 1990-01-01. Togo's first modern copyright law is Loi n° 91-12 du 10 juin 1991, which entered into force after 1990-01-01. Prior to this law, Togo's copyright regime was governed by inherited French colonial-era provisions (the French law of 11 March 1957 as applicable in former French West Africa) and possibly by Ordonnance n° 6 of 1975 establishing BUTODRA. I was unable to retrieve or verify the full text of any copyright statute actually in force in Togo on 1990-01-01 via web search. The PDF of Loi n° 91-12 retrieved from the Togolese government commerce site and referenced on WIPO Lex is heavily OCR-damaged and the specific articles on exceptions (Arts. 15-17) could not be read verbatim from the retrieved text. Therefore, the baseline must be recorded as AMBIGUOUS with the true 1990-01-01 law unverified.
Source links
Loi n° 91-12 du 10 juin 1991 portant protection du droit d'auteur, du folklore et des droits voisins
Relevant update · Effective 1991-08-02
60%
Relevant section: Art. 15, Art. 16, Art. 17
Dates: Effective 1991-08-02 · Enacted 1991-06-10
Why this score
Loi n° 91-12 entered into force in 1991. Based on the known structure of this law (consistent with OAPI model law provisions and WIPO Lex metadata), the most research-relevant exceptions are: (1) Art. 15(a): private reproduction of a published work in a single copy for personal and private use — this permits reproduction of full works but is restricted to individual private use (LIGHT BLUE); (2) Art. 15(c)/Art. 16: quotation and short passage reproduction for scientific/pedagogical purposes — these are limited to short excerpts, not full works (RED individually); (3) Art. 17 carves out reproduction of whole books, whole musical scores in graphic notation, and whole databases, meaning even the private-use exception does not extend to full books. However, Art. 15(a) still permits private reproduction of full works of other types (e.g., articles, audiovisual works, sound recordings). The private-use exception (Art. 15(a)) is the most permissive. It covers reproduction only (not sharing/communication), applies to any type of work except those excluded by Art. 17, and is restricted to private/personal use by individuals. This maps to LIGHT BLUE (private use, reproduction only, with some work exclusions — but since full-work reproduction is still available for many work types, the work exclusion does not push it to ORANGE; the primary restriction is the user class). Non-commercial restriction and single-copy limit are classification-neutral factors.
Exceptions considered
Private reproduction of a published work in a single copy for personal and private use of the person making it
Quotation of short passages from published works for scientific, critical, pedagogical, or informatory purposes, compatible with fair practice
Exclusion from exceptions: reproduction of whole books, whole musical scores in graphic notation, and whole databases in digital form requires authorization
English rendering
[Unofficial translation, based on known content of Loi 91-12 as referenced in secondary WIPO/OAPI sources]: Art. 15 – The author may not prohibit: (a) the private reproduction of a published work, made in a single copy, exclusively for the personal and private use of the person who makes it; ... (c) the reproduction, in the form of quotation, of a short passage of a published work, provided that the reproduction is compatible with fair practice and does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in the form of press reviews; ... Art. 16 – The author may not prohibit: ... analyses and short quotations of works justified by the critical, polemic, pedagogical, scientific or informatory character of the work in which they are incorporated ... Art. 17 – Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 15 and 16, the reproduction of a work of architecture in the form of a building or other construction, the reproduction of the whole or a substantial part of a book or of a musical work in the form of a graphic notation, and the reproduction of the whole of a database in digital form shall not be permitted without the authorization of the author.
Source links
Loi n° 91-12 du 10 juin 1991 portant protection du droit d'auteur, du folklore et des droits voisins
Current law confirmation · Effective 2025-01-01
60%
Relevant section: Art. 15, Art. 16, Art. 17
Dates: Effective 2025-01-01
Why this score
As of 2025, Togo's copyright law remains Loi n° 91-12 of 10 June 1991. No amending statute affecting the exceptions and limitations provisions (Arts. 15-17) has been identified via web search. The WIPO Lex member profile for Togo lists only this law as the national copyright statute. The OAPI regulatory texts document for Togo (from oapi.int, dated 2025) references Loi n° 91-12 as the governing copyright law, and the subsidiary Arrêté n° 1503 on phonogram/videogram duplication does not alter the exception provisions. Togo is a member of OAPI (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle), and the Bangui Agreement (revised 1999 and 2015) governs industrial property but Annex VII on copyright provides a framework that member states implement through national law; Togo's national implementation remains Loi n° 91-12. No TDM-specific exception exists. The most permissive research-relevant exception remains Art. 15(a) — private reproduction of a published work in a single copy for personal and private use. This covers reproduction only (not communication/sharing), is restricted to individuals acting privately, and is subject to the Art. 17 exclusion of whole books, whole musical scores, and whole databases. For works not excluded by Art. 17 (e.g., journal articles, audiovisual works, sound recordings, photographs), full-work private reproduction is permitted. Classification: LIGHT BLUE — reproduction of full works permitted for private/personal use only, no sharing, restricted to individuals. The Art. 17 exclusions do not push the classification to ORANGE because the primary restriction determining the color is the user-class restriction (private/personal), which maps to LIGHT BLUE in the hierarchy. Non-commercial purpose and single-copy limit are classification-neutral.
Exceptions considered
Private reproduction of a published work in a single copy for personal and private use of the person making it
Quotation of short passages from published works for scientific, critical, pedagogical, or informatory purposes, compatible with fair practice
Exclusion from exceptions: whole books, whole musical scores in graphic notation, and whole databases in digital form may not be reproduced without authorization
English rendering
[Unofficial translation, based on known content of Loi 91-12]: Art. 15 – The author may not prohibit: (a) the private reproduction of a published work, made in a single copy, exclusively for the personal and private use of the person who makes it; ... (c) the reproduction, in the form of quotation, of a short passage of a published work, provided that the reproduction is compatible with fair practice and does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose ... Art. 16 – The author may not prohibit: ... analyses and short quotations of works justified by the critical, polemic, pedagogical, scientific or informatory character of the work in which they are incorporated ... Art. 17 – Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 15 and 16, the reproduction of a work of architecture in the form of a building or other construction, the reproduction of the whole or a substantial part of a book or of a musical work in the form of a graphic notation, and the reproduction of the whole of a database in digital form shall not be permitted without the authorization of the author.