TaiwanCopyright Act, fair use of a work
Copyright Act (著作權法), Arts. 65, 91
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force.
A copyright and text and data mining (TDM) rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 22 September 2026.
What it requires
- Test a collection or training use of another's copyrighted work against Article 65's fair-use factors (purpose and character, nature of the work, proportion used, and market effect) case by case; there is no separate text-and-data-mining exception or opt-out mechanism to rely on instead.
- A use exceeding fair use that reproduces a work without authorization risks criminal exposure under Article 91.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Unauthorized reproduction infringing another's economic rights carries imprisonment up to three years, detention, or a fine up to NT$750,000 (Article 91, paragraph 1); reproduction made with intent to sell or rent carries imprisonment of six months to five years and a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$2,000,000 (Article 91, paragraph 2).
Penalty structure
NT$750,000 is the base fine cap for ordinary unauthorized reproduction (Article 91, paragraph 1); NT$2,000,000 is the cap for reproduction made with intent to sell or rent (Article 91, paragraph 2), the figure recorded here.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 22 September 2026
- Currency
- TWD
- Fixed cap
- 2,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Public prosecutors and the courts
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 65 makes fair use of a work a general defense to infringement of economic rights, judged on all the circumstances and in particular the purpose and character of the exploitation (including whether commercial or nonprofit educational), the nature of the work, the proportion exploited relative to the whole, and the exploitation's effect on the work's current and potential market value.
The Act sets no dedicated text-and-data-mining exception or machine-readable opt-out mechanism separate from this general standard, so a bulk-collection or model-training use of copyrighted text is tested by the same case-by-case Article 65 balancing as any other use.
Unauthorized reproduction infringing another's economic rights is punishable under Article 91 by up to three years imprisonment and/or a fine up to NT$750,000, rising to imprisonment of six months to five years and a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$2,000,000 where the reproduction is made with intent to sell or rent; Article 91 states that personal reference use or fair use of a work does not constitute infringement.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.