Copyright Act, news-reporting and commentary-republication exceptions

Article 9, paragraph 1, subparagraph 4 excludes from copyright protection "oral and literary works for news reports that are intended strictly to communicate facts," so a bare factual news report carries no copyright to begin with. Where a report contains a protected expression, Article 49 lets a person reporting a current event by broadcasting, photography, film, newspaper, or internet exploit, within the scope necessary to the report, whatever work is seen or heard in the course of that event.

Article 61 separately lets a newspaper, magazine, or internet transmission republish, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmit commentary on a current political, economic, or social event that has already appeared in a newspaper, magazine, or on the internet, unless the original publisher has indicated that republishing is not authorized.

Neither provision creates a payment obligation or a registration or designation scheme; each is a copyright exception that either removes the underlying content from protection or permits its republication subject to an opt-out. The Act provides that it takes effect from the date of its promulgation, apart from the exceptions it lists. The last revision of the whole Act was promulgated on 21 January 1998.

Under Article 13 of the Central Regulation Standard Act, a law that takes effect from its promulgation takes effect from the third day counting from the day of promulgation.