Copyright Act 2002, Reproduction of Newspaper Articles and Quotation Exceptions
Copyright Act 2002 (Act No. 12 of 2002, 2020 Revised Edition), ss. 10, 13
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 1 September 2008.
A snippet reproduction rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 5 September 2026.
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 13(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 current economic, political, or religious topics, or a broadcast work of the same character, without the author's authorisation, unless the right to authorise that reproduction has been expressly reserved on the copies or acknowledged in connection with an earlier broadcast of the work.
Section 10 separately permits reproducing, in the form of quotation, a short part of any published work without authorisation, provided the reproduction is compatible with fair practice, does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose, and is accompanied by an indication of source and the author's name.
Neither section carries a numeric length cap, and going beyond either exception's fair-practice and extent-justified limits exposes the reproducer to the Act's ordinary infringement remedies, including a criminal fine of up to $20,000 or imprisonment of up to three years under section 29.
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Read the law
Official English text, 2020 Revised Edition, WIPO Lex
assented 4 March 2004, entered into force 1 September 2008 per the WIPO Lex record