The pictures and the whole article about the New York's Metropolitan police woman published in Playboy, was translated and published as a whole by the Turkish Daily Newspaper, Sabah, in its weekend supplement.
Upon a complaint by Playboy, The Public Prosecutor indicted the responsible manager of Sabah, for unauthorised adoption under the Press Law, Article 26, refusing to bring charges under the Copyright Law against the owners of Sabah.
Article 36/2 of the Turkish Copyright Law, authorises referral and summaries of articles appear in newspapers and magazines and prohibits the adoption as a whole if copyrights are reserved. The scope of this provisions is limited to the political and economical daily matters. Playboy article is not of this nature and Playboy had reserved its rights over this article and pictures.
The Article 16 of the Turkish Press Law provides for a similar provision which prohibits the publication of articles or pictures obtained as a result of special efforts of without the consent of the owners of Magazines.
The Court found that Sabah adopted the Playboy article without consent and sentenced the responsible Manager of Sabah with monetary penalties.
Playboy appealed against the judgement for application of the Copyright provisions against the owners of the Sabah, in addition to the Press Law Provisions. The result is expected towards the end of 1997.
The content of this article is to provide only a general information on the subject. Legal advice should be sought for any specific circumstances.
Turkish Court Finds Translation Of The Whole Playboy Article Within Adoption Without Consent
