Copyright Act 2013, economic rights, computer program copying, and technological protection measures
Copyright Act 2013 No. 8 (Cook Islands), ss. 8, 9, 22, 44 (economic rights, computer program copying, and technological protection measures)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 7 December 2013.
A copyright and text and data mining (TDM) rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not copy, reproduce, or communicate to the public a substantial part of a copyrighted work without the owner's authorisation, unless a section 14 to 25 exception applies, such as the section 22 exception for a single copy or adaptation of a computer program made to use it for the purpose it was obtained, for archival purposes, or to replace a lost or destroyed copy.
- Do not manufacture, import for sale or rental, or supply a device or means designed to circumvent a technological measure applied to a work, sound recording, or communication to the public to prevent or restrict its copying.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 44 makes it an offence to manufacture or import for sale or rental a device or means designed to circumvent a work's copy-protection technology, or to enable unauthorised reception of an encrypted broadcast, punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding $50,000 or imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both, for an individual, or a fine not exceeding $100,000 for any other person.
Penalty structure
Section 44(2) caps the fine for the technological-protection-measure offence at $100,000 for a body other than an individual, or $50,000 (or up to 2 years' imprisonment, or both) for an individual. The Act states these amounts in Cook Islands dollars, at par with the New Zealand dollar.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- NZD
- Fixed cap
- 100,000
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction, TDM
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 5 binds the Crown, and section 8 gives the owner of copyright in a work the exclusive right to copy, publish, perform or display in public, distribute, adapt, and communicate the work to the public. Section 9 makes it an infringement to do any of those acts without the owner's permission and other than under one of the exceptions in sections 14 to 25.
Section 3 defines a literary work to include a computer program, and a collective work to include a compilation of data, including in electronic or other machine-readable form, so a database attracts protection here only as a collective work under ordinary copyright, not under a separate sui generis database right.
Section 22 lets the lawful owner of a copy of a computer program make a single copy or adaptation without the copyright owner's authorisation, but only to use the program for the purpose it was obtained, for archival purposes, or to replace a lost or destroyed copy, and any such copy must be destroyed once it no longer meets those conditions.
Section 44 makes it an offence to manufacture or import for sale or rental a device or means designed to circumvent a technological measure that prevents or restricts copying of a work, sound recording, or communication to the public, or that enables reception of an encrypted broadcast by a person not entitled to receive it.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Text of the Copyright Act 2013, Cook Islands Sessional Legislation database, PacLII, archived copy