JamaicaCopyright Act, 1993, current-events reporting exception and idea/expression exclusion
Copyright Act, 1993 (Act 5 of 1993, as amended by Act 13 of 2015), s. 6(8) and s. 53(1)(b)
In force since .
A snippet reproduction rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- You may use a bare fact or news item freely: section 6(8) keeps copyright from extending to an idea, concept, process, principle, procedure, system, discovery or similar thing, so a fact or news item as such is never a protected work, whichever outlet reports it first.
- You may deal fairly with a protected work, other than a photograph, for the purpose of reporting current events without infringing copyright, provided the dealing is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement of the work and its author (section 53(1)(b)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
Section 6(8) provides that copyright protection does not extend to an idea, concept, process, principle, procedure, system, or discovery or things of a similar nature, so a bare fact or news item, as such, is never a protected work under Jamaican law whichever outlet reports it first.
Section 53(1)(b) separately lets a person deal fairly with a protected work, other than a photograph, for the purpose of reporting current events without infringing copyright, so long as the dealing is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement of the work and its author.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app reuses other publishers' content.
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