This is the question in the series with the clearest answer. Quoting an opinion column is governed by the second paragraph of Article 36 of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 ("FSEK"), and the paragraph turns on a single distinction: has the right of quotation been expressly reserved, or has it not? The answer depends on that one question, and the consequences of the two possibilities are very different from each other. Below I unpack the paragraph sentence by sentence, and set out which pieces fall within its scope, how the reservation is made, and how the two possibilities compare.
The full text of the provision
Let us look first at what the statute says. The second paragraph of FSEK Article 36 reads:
FSEK Article 36 — second paragraph
"Where the right of quotation has not been expressly reserved, articles and
columns appearing in newspapers or periodicals and relating to social,
political or economic questions of the day may freely be taken, as they
stand or in adapted form, by other newspapers and periodicals and
disseminated by radio or by any other means. Even where the right of
quotation has been reserved, it is permissible to take the said articles and
columns in abridged form, as press summaries, and to disseminate them by
radio or by any other means."
(Unofficial translation; the Turkish text is authoritative.)The paragraph consists of two sentences, and each governs a separate possibility. The first sentence covers the case where the right "has not been reserved", the second the case where it "has been reserved". In other words, the statute leaves a space open even where the right of quotation has been reserved — and this is the point most often overlooked in the field.
Two possibilities, in one table
| Situation | What may be done | What may not be done | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| The right of quotation has <b>not been expressly reserved</b> | The piece may be taken <b>as it stands</b>; it may also be taken <b>in adapted form</b>; it may be disseminated by radio or by any other means | Taking it without crediting the source — this is prohibited in both cases | FSEK Article 36(2), first sentence |
| The right of quotation <b>has been expressly reserved</b> | It may only be taken and disseminated <b>in abridged form, as a press summary</b> | Taking it as it stands, publishing the full text, taking it in adapted form | FSEK Article 36(2), second sentence |
Which pieces fall within this paragraph? The "social, political or economic questions of the day" requirement
The paragraph does not cover every opinion column. The text requires three cumulative elements, and all of them must be present together:
- Place of publication: the piece must have appeared "in newspapers or periodicals"
- Subject matter: the piece must relate to a "social, political or economic" question — that is, a societal, political or economic one
- Currency: the question must be one "of the day"; the statute does not bring enduring, non-topical, academic or literary texts within this paragraph
- Type: what is taken must be an "article" or a "column"
If these conditions are not met, Article 36(2) does not apply. A short story, a poem, a book review, or an essay not tied to a current question published in a newspaper, for example, does not satisfy the subject-matter requirement of the paragraph. In that case you fall back not on the freedom in Article 36(2) but on the regime of economic rights in FSEK Articles 20-25 and the written-permission requirement of Article 52.
What does "expressly reserving" mean, and how is it done?
"Expressly" means openly. The statute does not tie the reservation of the right of quotation to any particular form; it requires only that it be explicit. In practice publishers do this in the following places:
- A general statement in the imprint of the newspaper or periodical
- A note placed directly beneath the opinion column
- On online news sites, the copyright notice at the foot of the article page or a provision in the terms-of-use page
- A republication clause contained in an agency or syndication contract
The first thing to do before taking a piece is to check whether the source has inserted such a statement. If it has, the first sentence closes and all you are left with is the press-summary space left open by the second sentence.
A reservation clause you can use for your own pieces
Look at it from the other side: if you do not want your own opinion columns taken as they stand, you must expressly insert this clause in order to close off the first sentence of Article 36(2). The wording below uses the statute's own terminology:
RESERVATION CLAUSE BENEATH AN ARTICLE
(to close off the first sentence of Article 36(2))
In respect of this article, the right of quotation is expressly reserved
pursuant to Article 36 of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works
No. 5846. Taking the article as it stands or in adapted form is subject to
the written permission of the publisher.
GENERAL CLAUSE FOR THE IMPRINT / COPYRIGHT NOTICE
In respect of articles and columns published in [name of publication] and
relating to social, political and economic questions of the day, the right
of quotation is expressly reserved within the meaning of Article 36(2) of
Law No. 5846. When quoting news and daily reports, the source elements
enumerated in Article 36(3) must be stated.What do "as they stand or in adapted form" mean?
The freedom left by the first sentence is broad. "As they stand" covers the full text, and "in adapted form" covers a version produced by way of adaptation within the meaning of FSEK Article 6 — translation, abridgement, annotation and the like. Article 6(1) treats translations as adaptations, and Article 6(9) treats "the explanation or annotation of another person's work, or its abridgement" as an adaptation. So publishing an opinion column whose right of quotation has not been reserved in translated or abridged form also falls within the scope of this sentence.
On the other hand, the final paragraph of Article 6 requires, for an adaptation to be treated as a work, that it "cause no prejudice to the rights of the author of the work used" and that it "bear the individual characteristics of the adapter". If you make a translation or an abridgement, you are the owner of the resulting text, but the rights of the author of the original work are reserved — the duty to credit the source does not disappear.
The measure of being "in abridged form, as press summaries"
The space opened by the second sentence is narrow, but it is real. Here too the statute gives no figure; it imposes two qualitative conditions. The first is abridgement: the text taken must be shorter than the original. The second is form: the resulting product must be a press summary.
- Taking the paragraphs of a piece one after another and putting the heading "summary" on top is not a summary — the element of abridgement is in fact absent
- Taking the most striking section of a piece in full and skipping the rest is, in form, not a summary but a selective quotation
- The function of a summary is to inform the reader; if, after reading the summary, the reader feels no need to go to the original piece, the summary has taken the place of the piece
We set out, with a five-question checklist, how the measure is qualitative rather than quantitative and how to turn that into a newsroom rule in our article on how much text may be quoted.
The boundary between an opinion column and a news item
The first paragraph of Article 36 frees "daily news and reports"; the second paragraph sets up a separate regime for "articles and columns". Two texts sitting on the same page may therefore be subject to different legal regimes.
| Content | Paragraph applied | Result |
|---|---|---|
| The information that a minister has resigned | Article 36(1) | Free quotation; crediting mandatory |
| An opinion column interpreting the resignation | Article 36(2) | If not reserved, as it stands or in adapted form; if reserved, only a press summary |
| An investigative file based on the writer's own research | May fall outside the scope of Article 36(1) | If it qualifies as a work, permission is required (Articles 20-25, Article 52) |
| A statement of fact contained in an opinion column | Article 36(1) | The fact may be freely conveyed; the sentences recounting the fact are assessed separately |
We set out the decision flow for this distinction, and "the difference between the bare fact of a news event and the text that reports it", in detail in our article on the freedom to quote news.
I credited the source — surely permission isn't needed as well?
No. These two things are not substitutes for each other. If the freedom in the first sentence of Article 36(2) applies, taking the piece with a credit is enough; but if you are in the field of the second sentence, that is, if the right of quotation has been reserved, crediting the source does not give you the power to take the piece as it stands. Crediting the source is an additional obligation attaching to a use that is free; it does not make a use that is not free become free.
We deal with the legal consequences of this misconception and how the two obligations are separated in our article discussing whether crediting the source replaces permission, and with the sanctions for republishing without credit in our article on the penalty for republication.
Decision flow
QUOTING AN OPINION COLUMN — DECISION FLOW (FSEK Article 36(2))
1) Did the piece appear in a newspaper or periodical?
NO -> Article 36(2) does not apply
2) Is it a social/political/economic question OF THE DAY?
NO -> Article 36(2) does not apply
3) Is it an article or a column? NO -> Article 36(2) does not apply
(If any of the above is NO: Articles 20-25 + written permission
under Article 52)
4) Has the right of quotation been expressly reserved?
NO -> it may be taken AS IT STANDS or IN ADAPTED FORM
(Article 36(2), first sentence)
YES -> only an ABRIDGED PRESS SUMMARY
(Article 36(2), second sentence)
5) In both cases the Article 36(3) source elements ARE WRITTEN OUT:
name of newspaper/periodical/agency + original source if any +
date and issue number
+ the name, pen name or sign of the author of the articleWe give ready-made wording for the last step of this flow — how to build the source line, together with a template specific to opinion-column summaries — in our article on crediting sources. For publishers who want to embed the reservation clause in the article template and the source credit in the quotation block, these two fields can be designed together on the news publishing software side.