Telegraphic Press Messages Act

LAWS OF KENYA
THE TELEGRAPHIC PRESS MESSAGES ACT
CAP. 512
Revised and published by the National Council for Law Reporting
with the authority of the Attorney-General as gazetted by the Government Printer
www.kenyalaw.org

Kenya
Telegraphic Press Messages Act
Cap. 512
Legislation as at 12 December 1964
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• NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
• SA: Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
Share widely and freely.

Telegraphic Press Messages Act (Cap. 512)
Contents
1. Short title ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Interpretation .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
3. Temporary protection of certain telegraphic messages from publication .................................................................................. 1
4. Transmission of protected messages for publication prohibited ................................................................................................... 2
5. Presumptions in prosecutions .................................................................................................................................................................... 2
6.

................................................................................................................................................. 2
6.

Penalties ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

.................................................................................................................................................... 2

Telegraphic Press Messages Act (Cap. 512) Kenya
TELEGRAPHIC PRESS MESSAGES ACT
CAP. 512
Assented to on 15 November 1934
Commenced on 15 November 1934
[Amended by Kenya (Amendment of Laws) (Written Laws)
Order, 1963 (Legal Notice 2 of 1964) on 12 December 1964]
An Act of Parliament to confer temporary exclusive rights in respect of telegraphic press messages
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Telegraphic Press Messages Act. 2.

fer temporary exclusive rights in respect of telegraphic press messages
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Telegraphic Press Messages Act. 2.

Interpretation
In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—
“telegraph” means a line, wire or other apparatus used for the purpose of telegraphic or telephonic
communication, and includes a pneumatic tube, submarine or other cable and any apparatus for
transmitting or receiving messages or other communications by means of signals, whether with or without
the aid of wires;
“telegraph office” includes any structure, room, place or receptacle of any kind, appointed by authority
of the Managing Director of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation or used by a telegraph
company for the receipt, dispatch or delivery of telegraphic messages;
“telegraphic message” includes a message or other communication sent by telegraph;
“time of publication” means the moment when the first copies leave the premises in which they have
been printed. 3.

r communication sent by telegraph;
“time of publication” means the moment when the first copies leave the premises in which they have
been printed. 3.

Temporary protection of certain telegraphic messages from publication
(1) When a person publishes in a newspaper or other printed paper published or circulated in Kenya,
or supplies for publication, a message for the right to publish which payment or equivalent
consideration has been given and which has been transmitted by telegraph from a place within or
outside Kenya and lawfully received by him, no other person shall, without the written consent of
the first-mentioned person or his agent thereto lawfully authorized, print or publish, or cause to be
printed or published, that message or the substance thereof or any extract therefrom until a period
of eighty-four hours has elapsed from the time of first publication; and the publication of the whole
or any part of that message or the substance thereof shall be deemed to be a publication of it.

of first publication; and the publication of the whole
or any part of that message or the substance thereof shall be deemed to be a publication of it.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)—
(a) the period referred to shall not extend beyond ninety-six hours from the time when the
message was received at a telegraph office;
(b) the publication of a similar message lawfully received by any other person shall not be
deemed or taken to be a publication of the first-mentioned message within the meaning of
this Act;
(c) no telegraphic message published shall be protected unless it is printed with a heading which
indicates that the message has been received by telegraph and unless the time and the date
of its receipt at a telegraph office are stated in the heading, which heading, together with the
date of publication of the newspaper, shall be prima facie evidence of the time of receipt and
date of publication, respectively, of the message;
1

he
date of publication of the newspaper, shall be prima facie evidence of the time of receipt and
date of publication, respectively, of the message;
1

Telegraphic Press Messages Act (Cap. 512) Kenya
(d) bona fide comment on the message by a weekly or monthly publication shall not be
considered an infringement of this section, so long as that comment does not appear within
twelve hours after publication of the message. 4. Transmission of protected messages for publication prohibited
During the period in which a telegraphic message is protected from publication under section 3, no person
shall, without the written consent of the person whose consent is necessary under that section, tender
for transmission for purposes of publication the intelligence contained in that message or the substance
thereof or any extract therefrom. 5.

, tender
for transmission for purposes of publication the intelligence contained in that message or the substance
thereof or any extract therefrom. 5.

Presumptions in prosecutions
In a prosecution under this Act the production of a document which—
(a) purports to be a telegraphic message;
(b) contains the intelligence published or supplied for publication; and
(c) is addressed to and has been delivered to the person publishing or to some person on his behalf by
an officer of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation or a telegraph company,
shall be prima facie evidence that the message published or supplied for publication is a message published
under the protection of this Act; and proof that any person is the responsible editor of a newspaper in
which there has been publication contrary to the provisions of this Act shall be prima facie evidence that
that person willfully caused the unlawful publication. 6. Penalties
Any person who contravenes any provision of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine
not exceeding four hundred shillings; and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not
exceeding one thousand shillings. 2