SurinameWet Auteursrecht 1913, Press Reproduction and Quotation Exceptions (arts. 15, 15bis, 15ter)
In force since .
A snippet reproduction rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Obligation class
- Attribution
What it requires
- You may reproduce, as a newspaper or magazine, articles, reports or other items (other than novels and short stories) that appeared in another newspaper or magazine without the maker's permission, if you clearly name the source publication, and the author where the source names one, unless copyright has been expressly reserved (art. 15).
- You may still reprint articles concerning political disputes, and news reports and miscellaneous items, even where a publisher claims a reservation of copyright: no such reservation can be made for them (art. 15).
- The reprinting permission reaches foreign newspapers and magazines only for news reports, miscellaneous items, or current articles on economics, politics or religion (art. 15).
- You may use short quotations from articles that appeared in a newspaper or magazine, including in the form of press reviews, if you clearly name the source newspaper or magazine, and the author if the source names one (art. 15bis).
- You may further publish or reproduce a work already made public by or on behalf of the public authority, unless copyright was expressly reserved, either generally by regulation or in a specific case (art. 15ter).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Article 31 fines intentional copyright infringement up to 25,000 guilders; article 32 fines distributing or offering for sale a work known to infringe another's copyright up to 10,000 guilders; article 33 classes both as misdemeanours (misdrijven). These amounts are stated in the pre-2004 Suriname guilder, with no update to the Surinamese dollar stated in the text.
What this law does
Article 15 provides that reproducing, without the maker's or their successors' permission, articles, reports or other items (other than novels and short stories) that appeared in a newspaper or magazine, is not an infringement of copyright when done by another newspaper or magazine, provided the source publication is clearly named along with the author if the source names one, and unless copyright has been expressly reserved.
For articles concerning political disputes, and for news reports and miscellaneous items specifically, no such reservation of copyright can be made at all, so those categories can never be withheld from reprinting under article 15. The same reprinting permission reaches foreign newspapers and magazines only for news reports, miscellaneous items, or current articles on economics, politics, or religion.
Article 15bis separately provides that short quotations from articles that appeared in a newspaper or magazine, including in the form of press reviews, are not copyright infringement, provided the source newspaper or magazine is clearly named along with the author if named in the source.
Article 15ter provides that further publication or reproduction of a literary, scientific or artistic work already made public by or on behalf of the public authority is not an infringement, unless copyright was expressly reserved either generally by regulation or in a specific case.
None of these provisions is capped at a headline-length or short-extract threshold distinct from their own terms, and no reported Surinamese decision applies article 15 or 15bis to a systematic news aggregator's reproduction of headlines and snippets, as opposed to a traditional newspaper reprint or press review.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app reuses other publishers' content.
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