COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Maricruz Villanea Villegas, Roberto Arguello, Edna Lopez and Leyla Harper-Dominique, IDEAS IP
• publishing contracts limited to five years under Article 93 (terminating automatically); • rescission of a publishing contract if the publisher does not produce a new edition within 18 months of exhausting the previous one (Article 22); and • the moral right to withdraw a work under Article 14 (d), requiring prior compensation to affected parties and subject to contractual limitation. Outside these, reversion depends on what the con- tract says. 3.6 Limitations, Exceptions and Defences Costa Rica has no general fair use or fair dealing provision. The law provides a specific, closed list of exceptions; any use outside them requires authorisa- tion. The main exceptions are: • quotation (Article 70) – passages must not amount to a substantial reproduction harming the author, must not exceed what the purpose justifies and must credit the source; • private use (Article 74) – a single handwritten or typed copy of a didactic or scientific work for personal use without profit motive, not applying to computer programmes; • family circle performance (Article 73) – free per- formance of theatrical or musical works within the home; and • educational use (Article 73) – use as illustration in educational activities to the extent justified, without harming normal exploitation, with proper attribu- tion. Additional exceptions include: • news reporting (Article 76) to the extent justified by informational purpose; • press reproduction of current affairs articles unless reserved (Article 68); • government texts freely reproducible if the official version is followed (Article 75); • non-commercial reproduction of publicly displayed government artworks (Article 71); and
• accessible format reproduction for persons with print disabilities under Article 76 bis (Marrakesh Treaty, 2020). Published case law on exceptions is limited. All exceptions are subject to the implicit Berne three-step test: they must apply only in special cases, must not conflict with normal exploitation and must not cause unjustified harm to the rights-holder. Courts apply exceptions narrowly, consistent with civil law tradition. 3.7 Copyright Enforcement and Remedies Infringement is any unauthorised use of a protected work where no exception applies, covering all exclu- sive rights under Article 16 of Law No 6683: reproduc- tion, public communication, distribution, translation, adaptation, broadcasting, importation of unauthorised copies and making available on demand. Law No 8039 extends liability to circumvention of technological protection measures, alteration of rights management information and sale of infringing cop- ies. A de minimis carve-out under Article 70 of Law No 8039 excludes criminal sanction where acts were non-commercial and caused no actual harm to the rights-holder. Civil remedies include injunctions, seizure of infringing goods and damages (calculated as lost profits, infring- er’s profits or a reasonable royalty). Criminal penalties for commercial-scale infringement can reach impris- onment and fines. Precautionary measures – including ex parte cease orders and customs suspension – are available at any stage; the applicant must post a guar- antee against potential damages. 3.8 Infringement Tests and Substantiality Costa Rican copyright law contains no explicit “sub- stantial part” test. The quotation exception (Article 70 of Law No 6683) indirectly reflects the concept by requiring that copied passages not be “so numerous and continuous” as to constitute a disguised substan- tial reproduction, but no general statutory threshold exists. Courts have not developed case law on non-literal copying. Structurally similar software copying is theo- retically actionable under Article 16’s requirement of
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