Copyright Act 1998, compilation-only protection of collections and databases
Copyright Act 1998, No. 25 (Samoa), s. 4(1)(b) (protection of collections and databases)
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 1998.
A database right rule binding private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not reproduce a collection of works or of data, including a database, whose selection, coordination, or arrangement is original, without the authorisation of the collection's author or other copyright owner, unless a specific exception such as quotation or news reporting applies.
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, which includes the reproduction right in an original collection or database protected under section 4(1)(b), an offence punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding 250 penalty units (WST $25,000) or imprisonment not exceeding 5 years, or both, doubled for a second or further infringement within 5 years of a previous conviction.
Penalty structure
Section 27(1) caps a first wilful, for-profit infringement of a right protected under the Act, including the section 4(1)(b) collection and database right, at a fine of 250 penalty units, or imprisonment up to 5 years, or both. Samoa fixes the penalty unit at WST $100 under section 4 of the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998, so the cap is WST $25,000.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- WST
- Fixed cap
- 25,000
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction
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 4(1)(b) protects, as a derivative work, a collection of works and a collection of mere data, including a database, whether in machine-readable or other form, provided the collection is original by reason of the selection, coordination, or arrangement of its contents. Section 3(2) confirms that a work, and by extension a qualifying collection, is protected by the sole fact of its creation, irrespective of its mode or form of expression, content, quality, or purpose.
The protection under section 4(1)(b) attaches only where the collection is original by reason of the selection, coordination, or arrangement of its contents, so a scraper that extracts the underlying data without copying that original selection or arrangement is not reached by it.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_webtrains_models
Read the law
Text of the Copyright Act 1998, Samoa Consolidated Legislation 2020, PacLII, archived copy