Copyright Ordinance, infringement penalties
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 13 June 1917.
A copyright and text and data mining (TDM) rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Reproducing, distributing, publicly exhibiting, or importing a copy of a copyrighted work without the rights holder's consent risks liability under this Ordinance, which provides no exception for text-and-data-mining, research, or other automated reproduction.
- A first violation risks a fine per infringing copy reproduced, capped per transaction; a repeat violation risks imprisonment instead of the fine.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
A second or subsequent offence under section 2 may be punished by imprisonment for two months instead of the fine.
Penalty structure
Section 2(1): $4 per infringing copy dealt with, capped at $100 for the same transaction. Section 2(2) (unauthorised plate-making, or unauthorised public performance for private profit) instead carries a flat $100 fine. Tuvalu's circulating currency is the Australian dollar; the Ordinance's own text states the amount only as '$'.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- AUD
- Fixed cap
- 100
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 4
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition
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 2(1) makes it an offence for any person knowingly to make for sale or hire, sell, distribute, publicly exhibit, or import an infringing copy of a work in which copyright subsists, punishable by a fine of $4 per infringing copy dealt with, capped at $100 for the same transaction, or on a second or subsequent offence either that fine or imprisonment for two months.
Section 2(2) separately makes it an offence to knowingly make or possess a plate for producing infringing copies, or to cause a copyrighted work to be publicly performed for private profit without the owner's consent, punishable by a fine of $100 or, on a second offence, that fine or imprisonment for two months. Section 3 applies section 22 of the United Kingdom's Copyright Act 1956, restricting the importation of infringing printed copies, to importation into Tuvalu.
The Ordinance's own text provides no exception for quotation, fair dealing, or text-and-data-mining; the substantive scope of what is copyrightable rests on the extended United Kingdom Copyright Act 1911 that the Ordinance continues, which has not been located.
When LexLint raises it
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