According to Article 63 the provisions of the Finnish Copyright Act are applied:
- to works made by Finnish citizens or persons who have permanent residence in Finland,
- to works which have first been published in Finland or which have first been published in another country but after that in Finland within thirty days,
- to films when the producer’s main office or permanent residence is in Finland,
- to buildings in Finland and
- to works of art, which are part of a building in Finland or which are otherwise fixed to the ground.
In addition, the Act determines when to apply provisions concerning performing artists and radio and television transmissions. The main principal in these provisions is that the regulations of the Finnish Copyright Act are applied when the performance or transmission takes place or is recorded to a device in Finland.
Also works made elsewhere than in Finland are usually covered by copyright. According to different treaties Finland has obligation to give copyright protection also to works made abroad.
When the provisions of the Finnish Copyright Act cannot be applied to works, performances or transmissions, you especially have to take into account that the exceptions of the Finnish act are not applicable. Material may not necessarily be used freely the same way as material which is covered by the Finnish legislation. International treaties have some exceptions but they are not the same as Finnish exceptions. On the other hand other countries have their own copyright acts and exceptions in them are not the same as the Finnish ones.