Selected year snapshot
For 2024, the active event in this file is Copyright Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018).
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Current rationale
The Copyright Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018) replaced the earlier Copyright Ordinance and is listed on WIPO Lex as Kiribati's current copyright legislation. Multiple secondary sources reference a 'Copyright Act 2014' or 'Copyright Act 2001' but the WIPO Lex record identifies the current act as the Copyright Act 2018. The full statutory text of the 2018 Act could not be retrieved via web search — the WIPO Lex page confirms the act's existence and provides metadata but the PDF was not accessible during search. Secondary sources (e.g., generisonline.com) reference provisions on fair dealing for research and private study, educational exceptions, and library exceptions, but these are not primary statutory texts and cannot be relied upon for verbatim extraction or color classification. Without the actual statutory text, the specific scope of exceptions (whether they cover full works, sharing, all users, etc.) cannot be determined with confidence. The act appears to have entered into force in 2018 but the exact commencement date could not be verified.
Law changes
Copyright Ordinance (Chapter 16)
Baseline · Effective 1979-01-01
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Dates: Effective 1979-01-01
Why this score
The Copyright Ordinance (Chapter 16) was the copyright law in force in Kiribati as of 1990-01-01. This ordinance was inherited from the colonial-era Gilbert Islands legislation and was part of the Laws of Kiribati Revised Edition 1979. WIPO Lex lists this ordinance but does not host the full statutory text online. Despite extensive web searching, I was unable to retrieve the actual text of the exceptions and limitations provisions of this ordinance. The WIPO Lex record confirms the existence of the law but the full text PDF was not accessible. Without the actual statutory text of the exceptions provisions, I cannot determine what research-related exceptions existed or classify them by color. The law was clearly in force on 1990-01-01 as it was part of the revised laws of Kiribati from 1979 and remained in force until replaced by later copyright legislation.
Source links
Copyright Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018)
Relevant update · Effective 2018-01-01
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Relevant section: Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Dates: Effective 2018-01-01 · Enacted 2018-01-01
Why this score
The Copyright Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018) replaced the earlier Copyright Ordinance and is listed on WIPO Lex as Kiribati's current copyright legislation. Multiple secondary sources reference a 'Copyright Act 2014' or 'Copyright Act 2001' but the WIPO Lex record identifies the current act as the Copyright Act 2018. The full statutory text of the 2018 Act could not be retrieved via web search — the WIPO Lex page confirms the act's existence and provides metadata but the PDF was not accessible during search. Secondary sources (e.g., generisonline.com) reference provisions on fair dealing for research and private study, educational exceptions, and library exceptions, but these are not primary statutory texts and cannot be relied upon for verbatim extraction or color classification. Without the actual statutory text, the specific scope of exceptions (whether they cover full works, sharing, all users, etc.) cannot be determined with confidence. The act appears to have entered into force in 2018 but the exact commencement date could not be verified.
Source links
Copyright Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018)
Current law confirmation · Effective 2025-01-01
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Dates: Effective 2025-01-01
Why this score
As of 2025, the Copyright Act 2018 (Act No. 8 of 2018) is confirmed as the copyright law in force in Kiribati based on the WIPO Lex member profile for Kiribati, which lists this as the current copyright legislation. However, the full statutory text could not be retrieved via web search. Without access to the actual text of the exceptions and limitations provisions, the status cannot be classified into a specific color. Secondary sources suggest the law contains fair dealing provisions for research and private study, library and educational exceptions, but these cannot be verified from primary statutory text. The classification remains AMBIGUOUS because the statutory text itself could not be accessed — not because the text is indeterminate, but because it was unavailable for verification. If the secondary source descriptions are accurate (fair dealing for research or private study open to any user), the classification would likely be GREEN, but this cannot be confirmed.