LiberiaLiberia Intellectual Property Act, 2016, news, quotation, and press-reproduction exceptions (§§ 9.4, 9.9, 9.14)
In force.
A snippet reproduction rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- You may use the news of the day and miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information: the Act excludes them from copyright protection outright.
- You may quote from a lawfully published work, including a newspaper article or periodical in the form of a press summary, provided the quotation is compatible with fair practice, does not exceed the extent its purpose justifies, and indicates the source and the author.
- If you are a newspaper or periodical, you may reproduce, broadcast or otherwise communicate to the public a current-issues article published in another newspaper or periodical, unless the original publisher has expressly reserved that right.
- You may reproduce short excerpts of a work seen or heard in the course of a current event for the purpose of reporting that event.
- Expect no press-publisher neighbouring right, compelled platform-to-publisher bargaining regime or separate hot-news doctrine under the Act.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does Section 9.4(c) of the Liberia Intellectual Property Act, 2016, which denies protection to "news of the day or miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information", leave a headline or opening paragraph of a news article, written in the reporter's own words, protected by copyright?
- When does a quotation "in the form of press summaries" under Section 9.9(a) stop being "compatible with fair practice" and go beyond "the extent justified by the purpose", where the quoting service republishes extracts from many newspapers?
- Does Section 9.14(b), which permits the "other communication to the public" of "an article published in a newspaper or periodical on current issues" where this is "not expressly reserved", reach an online aggregator that is not itself a newspaper or periodical?
What this law does
Liberia's Intellectual Property Act of 2016 excludes the news of the day and miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information from copyright protection outright, alongside official legislative, judicial, and administrative texts.
Once a work has been lawfully published, the Act permits a quotation from it, including a quotation from a newspaper article or periodical in the form of a press summary, provided the quotation is compatible with fair practice, does not exceed the extent justified by its purpose, and is accompanied by an indication of source and author.
The Act separately permits a newspaper or periodical to reproduce, broadcast, or otherwise communicate to the public a current-issues article published in another newspaper or periodical, unless the original publisher has expressly reserved that right. It also permits reproducing short excerpts of a work seen or heard in the course of a current event for the purpose of reporting that event.
Liberia has no separate press-publisher neighbouring right, no compelled platform-to-publisher bargaining regime, no recognized hot-news or misappropriation doctrine distinct from ordinary copyright law, and no case law on hyperlinking or framed display. The Act provides that it takes effect immediately upon publication into handbills. No handbill or other official record of the day of that publication has been located.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app reuses other publishers' content.
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