The University of Helsinki owns the copyright to the name day lists it compiles, including name day lists for both the Finnish- and Swedish-speaking populations as well as lists for cats, dogs and horses. This right is based on the so-called catalogue section in the Finnish Copyright Act (Tekijänoikeuslaki). The Supreme Court of Finland confirmed the catalogue protection of name days in 2000. Any party that will use name days will usually pay the Almanac Office royalties found in its pricing list. Name day information however is free to publish as long as there is no more than two weeks of name day information or no more than 15 names from the list in alphabetical order at a time.

Pricing for Publishing Name Days >>

Name Days in Printed Calendars

Royalties on printed calendars are determined by the print run of units. The price for bilingual calendars – that is, having both Finnish and Swedo-Finnish name days – is one-and-a-half times the price of monolingual calendars.

Name Days in the Media

Name day information is free to publish in newspapers and magazines and on the radio and television as long as there is no more than two weeks of name day information or no more than 15 names from the list in alphabetical order at a time. Royalties must be paid for making longer lists public. The prices for printed publications are determined by the print run of units; the pricing for other forms of media is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Media outlets can purchase digital lists of name days from the Almanac Office which also may be used for a purpose which is not subject to copyright. 

Name Days on the Internet

Name day information is free to publish online as long as the websites publish no more than two weeks of name day information or no more than 15 names from the list in alphabetical order at a time. At the same time, name searches are not subject to royalties as long as the search result contains only a few days worth of information. Publication fees on information greater than this are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Website administrators can purchase digital lists of name days from the Almanac Office which also may be used for a purpose which is not subject to copyright.

Name Days on Mobile Apps

Publishing name days on apps for mobile devices is always subject to copyright, even though the purchaser cannot see more than a small fragment of the name day lists at a time. The Finnish Copyright Council issued a statement (2013:8) in 2013 to the University Almanac Office on the catalogue protection of name days on mobile apps. According to the Copyright Council, the use of name days on mobile apps is always based on the utilisation of the entire name day list, even if while accessing the app, the owner of the mobile device may simultaneously use only a small section of information from the list.

Name day royalties for mobile apps are charged according to the number of units of apps sold. Since the selling prices of mobile apps are lower than the prices of paper calendars, the name day prices are equally as low.