Copyright Act

1. 40 Articles adopted and promulgated in full on 14 May 1928 by Order No. 212
    of the National Government.
2. 37 Articles amended and promulgated in full on 27 April 1944 by Order Yu
    Wen-Zih No. 251 of the National Government.
3. Articles 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 amended and promulgated by Presidential
    order on 13 January 1949.
4. Articles 30, 31, 32, 36, and 41 newly adopted by Presidential order on 10
    July 1964; original Articles 22-29 became Articles 23-30; original Articles 30
    32 became Articles 33-35; original Articles 33-36 became Articles 37-40;
    original Article37 became Article 42; and Articles 25, 26, 33, 35, 37-40
    amended.
5. 52 Articles amended and promulgated in full on 10 July 1985 by Presidential
    Order No. (74) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 3318.
6. Articles 50-51 newly adopted and promulgated and Articles 3, 28 and 39
    amended and promulgated on 24 January 1990 by Presidential Order No. (79)
    Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 0427.
7. 117 Articles amended and promulgated in full on 10 June 1992 by Presidential
    Order No. (81) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 2805.
8. Article 53 amended and promulgated on 6 July 1992 by Presidential Order No.
    (81) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 3285.
9. Article 87 amended and promulgated and Article 87-1 newly adopted and
    promulgated on 24 April 1993 by Presidential Order No. (82) Hua-Zong-(1)
    Yi-Zih 1841.
10. 117 Articles amended and promulgated in full on 21 January 1988 by
      Presidential Order No. (87) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 87000126405.
11. Articles 2, 34, 37, 71, 81, 82, and 90-1 amended and promulgated on 12
      November 2001 by Presidential Order No. (81) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 2805.
12. Articles 26bis, 28bis, 59bis, Chapter IVbis (chapter name), 80bis, 82bis to
     82quinquies, 90quater, 91bis, 96bis, 96ter, and 98bis newly adopted and
     promulgated, and Articles 2, 3, 7bis, 22, 24, 26, 29, 37, 49, 50, 53, 56,
     56bis, 60, 61, 63, 65, 69, 79, 82, 87, 88, 91 to 95, 98, 100 to 102, 105,
    106, 106ter, 106quater, 111, 113, 115bis, 115ter, and 117 amended and
    promulgated, on 9 July 2003 by Presidential Order No. (92) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi
     Zih 09200122700.
13. Article 80-2 of the Copyright Act newly adopted and promulgated and
     Articles 3, 22, 26, title of Chapter 4-1, Articles 82, 87, 90-1, 90-3, 91, 91
     1, 92, 93, and 96-1 thereof amended and promulgated on 1 September
      2004 by Presidential Order No. (93) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 09300158591.
     14. Article 94 of the Copyright Act deleted and promulgated and Articles
     98, 99 through 102, and 117 thereof amended and promulgated on 30 May
     2006 by Presidential Order No. (95) Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 09500075761.
     15.Article 97bis newly adopted and promulgated and Articles 87, 93
     amended and promulgated on 11 July 2007 by Presidential Order No. (96)
     Hua-Zong-(1)-Yi-Zih 09600088051

Chapter 1 General Principles

Article 1
This Act is specifically enacted for the purposes of protecting the rights and interests of authors with respect to their works, balancing different interests for the common good of society, and promoting the development of national culture. Matters not provided for herein shall be governed by the provisions of other acts.

Article 2
The competent authority under this Act is the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs shall appoint a specialized agency in charge of copyright matters.

Article 3
For the purposes of this Act the following definitions shall apply:
1. "Work" means a creation that is within a literary, scientific, artistic, or other
    intellectual domain.
2. "Author" means a person who creates a work.
3. "Copyright" means the moral rights and economic rights subsisting in a
     completed work.
4. "The public" or "a public" means unspecified persons or multiple specified
     persons; provided, this does not apply to multiple persons of a household
     and the household's normal social acquaintances.
5. "Reproduce" means to reproduce directly, indirectly, permanently, or
     temporarily a work by means of printing, reprography, sound recording,
     video recording, photography, handwritten notes, or otherwise. This
     definition also applies to the sound recording or video recording of scripts,
     musical works, or works of similar nature during their performance or
     broadcast, and also includes the construction of an architectural structure
     based on architectural plans or models.
6. "Public recitation" means to communicate the content of a work to the public
     by spoken words or other means.
7. "Public broadcast" means to communicate to the public the content of a
     work through sounds or images by means of transmission of information by
     a broadcasting system of wire, wireless, or other equipment, where such
     communication is for the purpose of direct listening reception or viewing
     reception by the public. This includes any communication, by transmission
     of information via a broadcasting system of wire, wireless, or other
     equipment, to the public of an original broadcast of sounds or images by
     any person other than the original broadcaster.
8. "Public presentation" means to use single- or multiple-unit audiovisual
    devices, or other methods of transmitting images, to simultaneously
    communicate the content of a work to the public at the place of
    transmission or at a specified place outside the place of transmission.
9. "Public performance" means to act, dance, sing, play a musical instrument,
    or use other means to communicate the content of a work to a public that
    is present at the scene. This includes any communication to the public of an
    original broadcast of sounds or images through loudspeakers or other
    equipment.
10. "Public transmission" means to make available or communicate to the public
     the content of a work through sounds or images by wire or wireless
     network, or through other means of communication, including enabling the
     public to receive the content of such work by any of the above means at a
     time or place individually chosen by them.
11. "Adaptation" means to create another work based upon a pre-existing work
      by translation, musical arrangement, revision, filming, or other means.
12. "Distribution" means, with or without compensation, to provide the original
     of a work, or a copy thereof, to the public for the purpose of trade or
     circulation.
13. "Public display" means to display the content of a work to the public.
14. "Publication" means distribution by the rights holder of a sufficient number
      of copies of a work to satisfy a reasonable level of public demand.
15. "Public release" means public issue by the rights holder of the content of a
      work to the public through publication, broadcast, presentation, recitation,
      performance, display, or other means.
16. "The original" or "an original" means the object to which a work is first fixed.
17. "Electronic rights management information" means electronic information
      presented on the original or copies of a work, or at the time of
      communication of content of a work to the public, sufficient to identify the
     work, the name of the work, the author, the economic rights holder or
     person licensed thereby, and the period or conditions of exploitation of the
     work, including numbers or symbols that represent such information.
18. "Technological protection measures" means equipment, devices,
     components, technology or other technological means employed by
     copyright owners to effectively prohibit or restrict others from accessing or
     exploiting works without authorization.
"Place of transmission or at a specified place outside the place of transmission" as referred to in subparagraph 8 of the preceding paragraph includes motion picture cinemas, clubs, places where videocassetes or videodiscs are presented, hotel rooms, public transportation vehicles, or other places that may be accessed by unspecified persons.

Article 4
Works of foreign nationals that comply with one of the following conditions may enjoy copyright under this Act; provided, where the terms of a treaty or an agreement that has been ratified by resolution of the Legislative Yuan provide otherwise, such terms shall govern:
1. Works that are first published in the territory under the jurisdiction of the
    Republic of China, or are published in the territory under the jurisdiction of
    the Republic China within thirty days after their first publication in territory
    outside the jurisdiction of the Republic China; provided, this shall only apply
    where the country of such foreign national extends protection under
    identical circumstances to the works of persons of the Republic of China,
    and such protection has been verified.
2. Where by treaty or agreement, or under the domestic acts, regulations, or
    standard practice of the home country of the foreign national, works of
    persons of the Republic of China enjoy copyright in such country.

Chapter 2 Works

Article 5
For the purposes of this act, "works" shall include the following:
1. Oral and literary works.
2. Musical works.
3. Dramatic and choreographic works.
4. Artistic works.
5. Photographic works.
6. Pictorial and graphical works.
7. Audiovisual works.
8. Sound recordings.
9. Architectural works.
10. Computer programs.
The examples and content of each category of works set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the competent authority.

Article 6
A creation adapted from one or more pre-existing works is a derivative work and shall be protected as an independent work.
Protection of a derivative work shall not affect the copyright in the pre-existing work.

Article 7
A compilation work is a work formed by the creative selection and arrangement of materials, and shall be protected as an independent work.
Protection of a compilation work shall not affect the copyright in the work from which the material was selected and arranged.

Article 7bis
A performance by a performer of a pre-existing work or folklore shall be protected as an independent work.
Protection of a performance shall not affect the copyright in the pre-existing work.

Article 8
A joint work is a work that has been completed by two or more persons where the creation of each person cannot be separately exploited.

Article 9
The following items shall not be the subject matter of copyright:
1. The constitution, acts, regulations, or official documents.
2. Translations or compilations by central or local government agencies of
    works referred to in the preceding subparagraph.
3. Slogans and common symbols, terms, formulas, numerical charts, forms,
    notebooks, or almanacs.
4. Oral and literary works for news reports that are intended strictly to
    communicate facts.
5. Test questions and alternative test questions from all kinds of examinations
    held pursuant to acts or regulations.
The term "official documents" in the first subparagraph of the preceding paragraph includes proclamations, text of speeches, news releases, and other documents prepared by civil servants in the course of carrying out their duties.

Chapter 3 Authors and Copyright
Section 1 General Provisions

Article 10
The author of a work shall enjoy copyright upon completion of the work; provided, where this Act provides otherwise, such provisions shall govern.

Article 10bis
Protection for copyright that has been obtained in accordance with this Act shall only extend to the expression of the work in question, and shall not extend to the work's underlying ideas, procedures, production processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, or discoveries.

Section 2 Authors

Article 11
Where a work is completed by an employee within the scope of employment, such employee is the author of the work; provided, where an agreement stipulates that the employer is the author, such agreement shall govern.
Where the employee is the author of a work pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the economic rights to such work shall be enjoyed by the employer; provided, where an agreement stipulates that the economic rights shall be enjoyed by the employee, such agreement shall govern.
The term "employee" in the preceding two paragraphs includes civil servants.

Article 12
Where a work is completed by a person under commission, except in the circumstances set out in the preceding article, such commissioned person is the author of the work; provided, where an agreement stipulates that the commissioning party is the author, such agreement shall govern.
Where the commissioned person is the author pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, enjoyment of the economic rights to such work shall be assigned through contractual stipulation to either the commissioning party or the commissioned person. Where no stipulation regarding the enjoyment of economic rights has been made, the economic rights shall be enjoyed by the commissioned person.
Where the economic rights are enjoyed by the commissioned person pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the commissioning party may exploit the work.

Article 13
Where a person's name or a pseudonym familiar to the public is represented in a normal way as the author on the original of a work, or on a published copy of the work, or in connection with a public release of a work, the person shall be presumed to be the author of the work.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to presumptions concerning the date and place of publication of a work as well as the ownership of economic rights therein.

Article 14 (deleted)

Section 3 Moral Rights

Article 15
The author of a work shall enjoy the right to publicly release the work; provided, this shall not apply to a civil servant where, pursuant to the provisions of Article 11 or 12, such person is the author while the juristic person employing such author enjoys the economic rights to the work.
In the following circumstances the author shall be presumed to have consented to the public release of the work:
1. Where, prior to publicly releasing its work, the author has transferred, or
    licensed to exploit, the economic rights to the work, and the work is publicl
    released as a consequence of the exercise or exploitation of the economic
    rights.
2. Where, prior to the public release of a artistic work or a photographic work,
    the author transfers the original or a copy of such work to another party
    and the transferee publicly displays the original or copy of the work.
3. Where the work is a Masters thesis or doctoral dissertation written under the
    "Degree Conferral Act" and the author has obtained a degree.
    Where, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 11 or
    paragraph 2 of Article 12, an employer or a commissioning party, ab initio,
    obtained economic rights to a work that has never been publicly released,
    and where such work is publicly released in conjunction with the transfer,
    exercise, or exploitation of the economic rights of such work, the author
    shall be deemed to have consented to the public release of the work.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to paragraph 3 of Article 12.

Article 16
The author of a work shall have the right to indicate its name, a pseudonym, or no name on the original or copies of the work, or when the work is publicly released. The author has the same right to a derivative work based on its work.
The proviso in the first paragraph of the preceding article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the preceding paragraph.
The person exploiting a work may use its own cover design and may add the name or appellation of the designer or editor-in-chief; provided this shall not apply where the author has specifically indicated to the contrary, or where the addition would deviate from commonly accepted practices.
Where the purpose and method of exploitation neither present any likelihood of harm to the author's interests nor deviate from commonly accepted practices, the author's name or appellation may be omitted.

Article 17
The author has the right to prohibit others from distorting, mutilating, modifying, or otherwise changing the content, form, or name of the work, thereby damaging the author's reputation.

Article 18
The protection of moral rights of an author who has died or been extinguished shall be deemed to be the same as when the author was living or in existence and shall not be infringed upon by any person; provided, the act shall not constitute an infringement where it can be considered that the author's intent has not been contravened given the nature and degree of the act of exploitation, social changes, or other circumstances.

Article 19
Moral rights in a joint work may not be exercised without the consent of all the joint authors. A joint author shall not refuse consent without a legitimate reason.
Authors of a joint work may select an author from among the joint authors to be their representative for the purpose of exercising moral rights.
Limitations imposed on the representative powers of the representative referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be effective against a third party acting in good faith.

Article 20
The original of a work that has not been publicly released and the economic rights therein shall not be the object of compulsory execution unless they are the object of a trade or the principal has given its consent.

Article 21
Moral rights belong exclusively to the author and shall not be transferred or succeeded.

Section 4 Economic Rights
Subsection 1 Categories of Economic Rights

Article 22
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, authors have the exclusive right to reproduce their works.
Performers have the exclusive right to reproduce their performances by means of sound recording, video recording, or photography.
The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply to temporary reproduction that is transient, incidental, an essential part of a technology process, and without independent economic significance, where solely for the purpose of lawful network relay transmission, or for the lawful use of a work; provided, this shall not apply to computer programs.
In the preceding paragraph, the phrase "temporary reproduction¡K for the purpose of lawful network relay transmission" includes technically unavoidable phenomena of the computer or machine occurring in network browsing, caching, or other processes for enhancing transmission efficiency.

Article 23
Authors of oral and literary works have the exclusive right to publicly recite their works.

Article 24
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, authors have the exclusive right to publicly broadcast their works.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to further public broadcasts of a performance after that performance has been reproduced or publicly broadcast.

Article 25
Authors of audiovisual works have the exclusive right to publicly present their works.

Article 26
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, authors of oral and literary, musical, and dramatic/choreographic works have the exclusive right to publicly perform their works.
Performers have the exclusive right, by means of loudspeakers or other equipment, to publicly perform their performances; provided, this shall not apply to public performances of a performance by means of loudspeakers or other equipment after that performance has been reproduced or publicly broadcast.
Where a sound recording has been publicly performed, the author may claim payment of remuneration for use from the persons who publicly performed it.

Article 26bis
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, authors of works have the exclusive right of public transmission of their works.
Performers have the exclusive right of public transmission of their performances reproduced in sound recordings.

Article 27
Authors of unpublished fine arts or photographic works have the exclusive right to publicly display the original and copies of their works.

Article 28
Authors of works have the exclusive right to adapt their works into derivative works or to compile their works into compilation works; provided, this shall not apply to performances.

Article 28bis
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, authors of works have the exclusive right to distribute their works through transfer of ownership.
Performers have the exclusive right to distribute their performances reproduced in sound recordings through transfer of ownership.

Article 29
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, authors of works have the exclusive right to rent their works.
Performers have the exclusive right to rent their performances reproduced in sound recordings.

Article 29bis
An employer or commissioning party that has obtained the economic rights in a work in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 11 or paragraph 2 of Article 12 shall have exclusive enjoyment of the rights set out in the provisions of Articles 22 through 29.

Subsection 2 Term of Protection for Economic Rights

Article 30
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, economic rights endure for the life of the author and fifty years after the author's death.
Where a work is first publicly released between the fortieth and fiftieth years after the author's death, the economic rights shall endure for a term of ten years beginning from the time of the first public release.

Article 31
Economic rights in a joint work subsist for fifty years after the death of the last surviving author.

Article 32
Economic rights in a pseudonymous work or an anonymous work endure for fifty years from the time of public release; provided, the economic rights shall be extinguished where it can be proven that the author has been deceased for over fifty years.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply when the pseudonym of the author is well known to the public.

Article 33
Economic rights in works authored by a juristic person endure for fifty years after the public release of the work; provided, if the work is not publicly released within fifty years from the completion of the creation, the economic rights shall subsist for fifty years after completion of the creation.

Article 34
Economic rights for photographic works, audiovisual works, sound recordings, and performances endure for fifty years after the public release of the work.
The proviso of the preceding article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the preceding paragraph.

Article 35
All terms of duration specified in Articles 30 through 34 terminate as of the last day of the last year of the term.
Where the term of economic rights for works released to the public continuously or successively is calculated on the basis of the date of the public release of the work, if each public release can constitute an independent work, the term of economic rights of each work shall be calculated from the date of each public release; if each public release cannot constitute an independent work, the term shall be calculated from the date of the public release(s) that can constitute an independent work.
With respect to the circumstances described in the preceding paragraph, if the continuing part has not been publicly released within three years of the date of public release of its preceding part, the term of the economic rights shall be calculated from the date of public release of its preceding part.

Subsection 3 Transfer, Exercise, and Extinguishment of Economic Rights

Article 36
Economic rights may be transferred in whole or in part to another person and may be jointly owned with other persons.
The transferee of economic rights obtains economic rights within the scope of the transfer.
The scope of the transfer of the economic rights shall be as stipulated by the parties; rights not clearly covered by such stipulations shall be presumed to have not been transferred.

Article 37
The economic rights holder may license others to exploit the work. The territory, term, content, method of exploitation, and other particulars of the license shall be as stipulated by the parties; particulars not clearly covered by such stipulations shall be presumed to have not been licensed.
The license referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be affected by subsequent assignment or further licensing of economic rights by the economic rights holder.
A non-exclusive licensee may not sublicense the rights inherent in the license to any third party for exploitation without the consent of the economic rights holder.
An exclusive licensee may, within the scope of the license, exercise rights in the capacity of economic rights holder, and may perform litigious acts in its own name. The economic rights holder may not exercise rights within the scope of an exclusive license.
The provisions of paragraphs 2 through 4 shall not apply to any license conferred prior to the implementation of the November 12, 2001 amendment to this Act.
The provisions of Chapter VII shall not apply where musical works are licensed for reproduction on computer karaoke machines and an exploiter uses such a karaoke machine to publicly perform the works; provided, this shall not apply in the case of musical works managed by copyright intermediary organizations.

Article 38 (deleted)

Article 39
Where economic rights are the object of a pledge, unless otherwise stipulated at the time the pledge is created, the economic rights holder may exercise the economic rights to the work.

Article 40
In the case of a joint work, each author's share of the ownership of such a work shall be as stipulated by the joint authors; where no stipulation has been made, ownership shares shall be determined according to the degree of each author's creative contribution. Where the degree of each author's creative contribution is not clear, it shall be presumed that each author owns an equal share.
Where an author of a joint work abandons its share of the ownership of the work, that share shall be apportioned among the other joint authors in proportion to their respective shares.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis where the author of a joint work dies with no successor or is extinguished with no receiver.

Article 40bis
Joint economic rights in a work shall not be exercised except with the consent of all the joint economic rights holders; no economic rights holder shall transfer its share to another person or establish a pledge of its share in favor of a third party without the consent of all other joint economic rights holders. A joint economic rights holder shall not refuse consent without a legitimate reason.
The joint economic rights holders of a work may select a representative from among themselves to exercise their economic rights. Limitations imposed on the representative powers of such representative shall not be effective against a third party acting in good faith.
The second and third paragraphs of the preceding article shall apply mutatis mutandis to joint ownership of economic rights.

Article 41
Where an economic rights holder makes a submission to a newspaper or magazine, or licenses the public broadcast of the work, it shall be presumed, unless otherwise stipulated, that the economic rights holder has licensed one printing or one public broadcast only, and that said printing or broadcast shall have no effect on other rights belonging to the economic rights holder.

Article 42
Economic rights are extinguished upon expiration of the term of protection. Economic rights are also extinguished where any of the following circumstances occurs during the term of protection:
1. The economic rights holder has died and the economic rights, for that
    reason, divest by law to the national treasury.
2. The economic rights holder is a juristic person that has been extinguished
    and the economic rights, for that reason, divest by law to a local
    government.

Article 43
Except as otherwise provided by this Act, any person may freely exploit a work for which the economic rights have been extinguished.
Subsection 4 Limitations on Economic Rights

Article 44
Within a reasonable scope, central or local government agencies may reproduce the work of another person if it is considered necessary for internal reference for the purpose of legislation or administration; provided, this shall not apply where such reproduction would prejudice the interests of the economic rights holder due to the type and use of the work and the volume and method of reproduction.

Article 45
Within a reasonable scope, and for the sole purpose of use necessary to judicial proceedings, the works of another person may be reproduced.
The proviso of the preceding article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the circumstances set forth in the preceding paragraph.

Article 46
Within a reasonable scope, and where necessary for the purpose of teaching in schools, all levels of legally established schools and their teachers may reproduce the works of another person which have already been publicly released.
The proviso of Article 44 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the circumstances set forth in the preceding paragraph.

Article 47
Within a reasonable scope, and for the purpose of preparing pedagogical texts for which review and approval by an education administrative agency is required by act or regulation, or where an education administrative agency prepares pedagogical texts itself, the works of another person that have been publicly released may be reproduced, adapted, or compiled.
The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to the preparation of supplementary teaching aids which are ancillary to the aforesaid textbooks and which are exclusively provided to teachers for teaching purposes; provided, this shall be limited to editing by the preparer of such textbooks.
Within a reasonable scope and for the purpose of meeting educational needs, all levels of legally established schools and educational institutions may publicly broadcast the works of another person that have been publicly released.
In the circumstances set forth in the preceding three paragraphs the exploiter of the work shall notify the economic rights holder and pay compensation for use. The level of compensation shall be set by the competent authority.

Article 48
Libraries, museums, history museums, science museums, art museums, and other cultural institutions open to the public may reproduce works in their collections in any of the following circumstances:
1. Where a patron requests reproduction of a part of a work that has been
    publicly released, or a single article from a seminar paper or a single article
    from a periodical that has been publicly released, provided that the copy is
    for personal research purposes and is limited to one copy per person.
2. Where necessary to preserve materials.
3. Where the works in question are out of print or difficult to purchase, and
    have been requested by another similar institute.

Article 48bis
Central or local government agencies, educational agencies that have been established by law, or libraries open to the public may reproduce abstracts appended to the following works where such works have been publicly released:
1. Masters theses or doctoral dissertations written under the "Degree Conferral
   Act," where the author has obtained a degree.
2. Academic papers published in periodicals.
3. Research reports or collections of seminar papers that have been publicly
    released.

Article 49
When reporting current events by means of broadcasting, photography, film, newspaper, network, or otherwise, works that are seen or heard in the course of the report may be exploited within the scope necessary to the report.

Article 50
Works publicly released in the name of a central or local government agency or a public juristic person may, within a reasonable scope, be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted.

Article 51
Within a reasonable scope, where for nonprofit use by an individual or a family, a work that has been publicly released may be reproduced by a machine that is either located in a library or is not provided for public use.

Article 52
Within a reasonable scope, works that have been publicly released may be quoted where necessary for reports, comment, teaching, research, or other legitimate purposes.

Article 53
Works that have been publicly released may be reproduced in Braille or with accompanying sign language translation or text for the visually impaired or the hearing impaired.
For the purpose of promoting the welfare of the visually impaired or the hearing impaired, legally accredited non-profit institutions or organizations may, by means of sound recordings, computers, verbal imagery, accompanying sign language translation, or otherwise, exploit works that have been publicly released, for exclusive use by the visually impaired or the hearing impaired.

Article 54
Works that have been publicly released may be reproduced for use in examination questions on all kinds of examinations held by central or local government agencies and all levels of schools or educational institutions established in accordance with law; provided, this shall not apply to works that have been publicly released as examination questions.

Article 55
The work of another person that has been publicly released may be publicly recited, publicly broadcast, publicly presented, or publicly performed in the course of an activity of non-profit nature, provided that no fee is directly or indirectly collected from the viewers or listeners, and no compensation is given to the performers.

Article 56
For the purposes of public broadcasting, a radio or television broadcasting organization may, with its own equipment, sound record or video record a work; provided, this shall be limited to situations where the public broadcasting has been licensed by the economic rights holder, or situations otherwise comporting with the provisions of this Act.
Except where preservation of the recording referred to in the preceding paragraph has been approved for a designated place by the specialized agency in charge of copyright matters, such sound or video recordings shall be destroyed within six months from the time of recording.

Article 56bis
For the purpose of enhancing receiving effect, a community antenna installed in accordance with law may simultaneously rebroadcast works broadcast by wireless television stations established in accordance with law; the form and content of such broadcasts shall not be changed.

Article 57
The owner of the original legal copy of an artistic work or photographic work, or a person authorized by the owner, may publicly display such original or legal copy of the work.
The public displayer referred to in the preceding paragraph may reproduce the work in a descriptive writing in order to provide viewers with an explanation or introduction.

Article 58
Artistic works or architectural works displayed on a long-term basis on streets, in parks, on outside walls of buildings, or other outdoor locales open to the public, may be exploited by any means except under the following circumstances:
1. Reproduction of a building by construction of another building.
2. Reproduction of a work of sculpture by production of another sculpture.
3. Reproduction for the purpose of long-term public display in locales specified
    in this article.
4. Reproduction of artistic works solely for the purpose of selling copies.

Article 59
The owner of a legal copy of a computer program may alter the program where necessary for utilization on a machine used by such owner, or may reproduce the program as necessary for backup; provided, this is limited to the owner's personal use.
If the owner referred to in the preceding paragraph loses ownership of the original copy for any reason other than the destruction or loss of the copy, all altered and backup copies shall be destroyed unless the economic rights holder grants its consent otherwise.

Article 59bis
A person who has obtained ownership of the original of a work or a lawful copy thereof within the territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China may distribute it by means of transfer of ownership.

Article 60
Owners of originals of works and lawful copies of works may rent such original works or copies; provided, this shall not apply to sound recordings and computer programs.
The proviso of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to copies of computer programs incorporated in products, machinery, or equipment to be legally rented, where such copies do not constitute the essential object of such rental.

Article 61
Commentary on current political, economic, or social events that has appeared in a newspaper, magazine, or network may be republished by other newspapers or magazines, or be publicly broadcast by radio or television, or publicly transmitted on a network; provided, this shall not apply where there is indication that republishing, public broadcast, or public transmission is not authorized.

Article 62
Public speeches on politics or religion, and public statements made in legal proceedings or during proceedings of central or local government agencies, may be exploited by any person; provided, consent of the economic rights holder shall be obtained when compiling a compilation work that is dedicated to the speeches or statements of specified persons.

Article 63
Persons that may exploit the work of another person in accordance with the provisions of Article 44, Article 45, subparagraph one of Article 48, Articles 48bis through 50, Articles 52 through 55, Article 61, and Article 62 may translate such work.
Persons that may exploit the work of another person in accordance with the provisions of Articles 46 and 51 may adapt such work.
Persons that may exploit the work of another person in accordance with the provisions of Articles 46 through 50, Articles 52 through 54, paragraph 2 of Article 57, Article 58, Article 61, and Article 62 may distribute such work.

Article 64
A person who exploits the work of another person pursuant to the provisions of Articles 44 through 47, Articles 48bis through 50, Article 52, Article 53, Article 55, Article 57, Article 58, and Articles 60 through 63 shall provide a clear indication of the source of the work.
The "clear indication of the source" referred to in the preceding paragraph shall indicate the name or appellation of the author in a reasonable manner, except where the work is anonymous or the author is not known.

Article 65
Fair use of a work shall not constitute infringement on economic rights in the work.
In determining whether the exploitation of a work complies with the provisions of Articles 44 through 63, or other conditions of fair use, all circumstances shall be taken into account, and in particular the following facts shall be noted as the basis for determination:
1. The purposes and nature of the exploitation, including whether such
    exploitation is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
    purposes.
2. The nature of the work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion exploited in relation to the work
    as a whole.
4. Effect of the exploitation on the work's current and potential market value.
Where the copyright owner organization and the exploiter organization have formed an agreement on the scope of the fair use of a work, it may be taken as reference in the determination referred to in the preceding paragraph.
In the course of forming an agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph, advice may be sought from the specialized agency in charge of copyright matters.

Article 66
The provisions of Articles 44 through 63 and Article 65 shall not affect the author's moral rights.

Subsection 5 Compulsory Licensing

Article 67 (deleted)

Article 68 (deleted)

Article 69
Where a sound recording of a musical work recorded for sale has been published for six months, a person who wishes to exploit the aforementioned musical work to record and produce other sound recordings for sale may apply to the specialized agency in charge of copyright matters for a compulsory license, and after paying compensation, may exploit such musical work and record and produce other sound recordings.
Regulations governing the compulsory license for a musical work referred to in the preceding paragraph, the method for calculating the compensation for exploitation, and other requisite matters shall be prescribed by the competent authority.

Article 70
Copies of sound recordings which exploit musical works pursuant to the provisions of the preceding article shall not be sold outside of the territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China.

Article 71
The specialized agency in charge of copyright matters shall void approval for a compulsory license obtained in accordance with the provisions of Article 69 if the application is found to contain misrepresentations.
The specialized agency shall void approval for a compulsory license obtained in accordance with the provisions of Article 69 if the work is not exploited in the manner approved by the specialized agency.

Article 72 (deleted)

Article 73 (deleted)

Article 74 (deleted)

Article 75 (deleted)

Article 76 (deleted)

Article 77 (deleted)

Article 78 (deleted)