SamoaCopyright Act 1998, news reproduction, quotation, and current-events reporting exceptions
archived copy
Read from a public archive copy, not the publisher directly. The publisher does not serve this page to automated readers, so a direct fetch was not an option here; how we access sources. Archived . Publisher's page: https://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/consol_act_2020/ca1998133.pdfIn force since .
A snippet reproduction rule binding private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Obligation class
- Attribution
What it requires
- You may reproduce a short part of a published work as a quotation, without the copyright owner's authorisation, if the reproduction is compatible with fair practice, does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose, and is accompanied by an indication of the source and the author's name where it appears in the source.
- You may reproduce in a newspaper or periodical, or broadcast or communicate to the public, an article on a current economic, political or religious topic published in a newspaper or periodical, or a broadcast work of the same character, unless the author or other copyright owner has expressly reserved the right to authorise it.
- You may reproduce, broadcast or otherwise communicate to the public short excerpts of a work seen or heard in the course of reporting current events, to the extent justified by that purpose.
- You may reproduce or use a work to report Parliamentary or judicial proceedings, or an inquiry under an enactment, without infringing copyright.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 27(1) makes wilful, for-profit infringement of a right protected under the Act an offence punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding 250 penalty units (WST $25,000) or imprisonment not exceeding 5 years, or both, and section 27(2) lets the Court double the penalty for a second or further infringement committed within 5 years of a previous conviction.
Penalty structure
Section 27(1) caps a first wilful, for-profit infringement at a fine of 250 penalty units, or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both; section 27(2) lets the Court double that penalty, up to 500 penalty units or 10 years, for a second or further infringement within 5 years of a previous conviction. Samoa fixes the penalty unit at WST $100 under section 4 of the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998, so the base cap is WST $25,000.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- WST
- Fixed cap
- 25,000
What this law does
Section 9 permits reproducing a short part of a published work in the form of a quotation, without the copyright owner's authorisation, provided the reproduction is compatible with fair practice and does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose, and the quotation is accompanied by an indication of source and the author's name where it appears in the source.
Section 12(a) permits reproducing, in a newspaper or periodical, or broadcasting or otherwise communicating to the public, an article published in a newspaper or periodical on a current economic, political, or religious topic, or a broadcast work of the same character. This permission does not apply where the right to authorise reproduction or broadcasting is expressly reserved by the author or other copyright owner.
Section 12(b) separately permits reproducing, and broadcasting or otherwise communicating to the public, short excerpts of a work seen or heard in the course of reporting current events, to the extent justified by that purpose. Section 8B similarly lets a work be reproduced or used for the purposes of reporting Parliamentary or judicial proceedings or an inquiry under an enactment, without infringing copyright.
Section 27 makes wilful, for-profit infringement of a protected right an offence, punishable on conviction by a fine of up to 250 penalty units or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both, doubled for a second or further infringement within 5 years, and section 26(5) separately lets the Court order that a threatened continuing act of infringement not be committed, breach of which is itself an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app reuses other publishers' content.
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