Zitierrecht

Zitierrecht is a legal concept in copyright law that allows the use of short excerpts from a protected work without the author’s permission, provided the quotation serves a legitimate purpose such as criticism, commentary, journalism, science, or education. The aim is to balance the author’s exclusive rights with the public interest in informed discussion and scholarly discourse.

In Germany, Zitierrecht is primarily codified in § 51 of the Urheberrechtsgesetz (UrhG). It covers quotations in criticism, review, scholarly works, and news reporting, among other contexts. A quotation must be clearly identifiable as such and attributed to the original author and source. The excerpt may be as long as necessary to illustrate the point, but it must be appropriate in extent and not exceed what is needed for the stated purpose. It must not conflict with the normal exploitation of the source work, and the quotation should be integrated into the quoting work rather than presented as the author’s own, standalone content.

Outside Germany, many jurisdictions recognize a similar “quotation right” with varying scope and limits. In practice, Zitierrecht is commonly invoked in journalism, academic writing, literary and film criticism, and educational materials. The right requires proper attribution, proportionality, and relevance; it does not authorize indiscriminate copying or wholesale reproduction of a work.

Relation to broader copyright regimes: Zitierrecht is one of several limitations or exceptions to copyright. While sharing the goal of enabling critical and educational activity, its precise rules are country-specific and typically more narrowly defined than broader fair-use mechanisms in other systems.