South KoreaCopyright Act, current-events reporting and quotation exceptions
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 current news reporting that delivers simple facts freely: Article 7(5) excludes it from copyright protection, whoever reported it first.
- You may reproduce, distribute, publicly perform or publicly transmit a work seen or heard in the course of reporting current events by broadcast, newspaper or other means, to the extent the reporting purpose justifies (Article 26).
- As another media organisation, you may reproduce, distribute or broadcast a news article or editorial from a newspaper, online newspaper or news agency covered by the Acts on the Promotion of Newspapers and of News Communications, in full, unless the originating outlet has indicated such use is prohibited (Article 27).
- You may quote an already-made-public work for news reporting, criticism, education, research and similar purposes, within a reasonable extent and in compliance with fair practice (Article 28).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
Article 7(5) excludes current news reporting which delivers simple facts from copyright protection outright, so a bare news item is never a protected work under Korean law regardless of who reported it first. Article 26 permits reproducing, distributing, publicly performing, or publicly transmitting a work seen or heard in the course of reporting current events by broadcast, newspaper, or other means, to the extent justified by the reporting purpose.
Article 27 lets a media organisation other than the originating outlet reproduce, distribute, or broadcast a news article or editorial inserted in a newspaper or online newspaper under the Act on the Promotion of Newspapers, or carried by a news agency under the Act on the Promotion of News Communications, unless the originating outlet has indicated that such use is prohibited; the permission reaches full articles and editorials rather than only short extracts, and it has not been amended since 2009.
Article 28 separately allows quoting an already-made-public work for news reporting, criticism, education, research, and similar purposes, within a reasonable extent and in compliance with fair practice.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app reuses other publishers' content.
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