MEMORANDUM ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY DECEMBER 10TH 2020

We are many millions of South Africans. We demand our constitutional rights! We are:

Blind and Disabled Persons experiencing a book famine and the criminalisation of braille and other accessible formats, preventing us from building livelihoods for ourselves;

Public Sector and Township Teachers and Learners who are blocked in accessing and sharing knowledge, which is vital to our right to education;

Actors, Musicians, Writers, Photographers, Artists and other Creators

who are starved of royalties for our work and who continue to live and die as paupers;

Filmmakers, journalists and other media workers and activists who cannot create new works due to blocking of fair use rights and who depend

on access to knowledge and free flow of information as provided for in the constitution.

You have ignored our voices for too long. We have formed an unprecedented alliance between creators and users of knowledge. AS CREATORS AND COMMUNITIES WE STAND TOGETHER FOR FAIR COPYRIGHT.

You claim to care about the blind and disabled
You claim to care about the majority of historically disadvantaged learners You claim to care about the creative sector and artists
You claim to be committed to an inclusive Fourth Industrial Revolution The evidence of your inaction does not support your claims.

Today we are still governed by a Copyright law passed in 1978, with no major overhaul since then. This is apartheid era legislation, being enforced by a democratic government. This is intolerable, immoral and unconstitutional. It violates articles 9, 16, 29, 30 and 32 of the Bill of Rights, amongst others, which guarantee non-discrimination, education, information and cultural life.

For over 10 years we have called for

The right to make braille and accessible copies of copyrighted materials and to purchase braille materials internationally, in line with the Marrakesh Treaty and international human rights instruments

The right to access and share educational materials according to internationally recognised principles of fair use, which outlaw piracy and promote access

The right to be paid fair royalties for creative works, so that as writers, musicians, artists, filmmakers and performers we can share in the income generated by our labours and live as valued members of South African society.

These are our constitutional rights.

They are also vital to ensure South Africa can transition into the Fourth Industrial Revolution to build our knowledge economy in an inclusive way.

These rights are all contained within the Copyright Amendment Bill, passed by our democratic parliament in 2018 and sent to the President for signature. For a year the President sat on his hands. Then under pressure from multinational corporations and their local partners, including hollywood movie studios, record labels, publishing conglomerates and collecting societies, the President suddenly spotted flaws in the new law and returned it to Parliament. We do not believe these supposed flaws are based in fact or

good legal analysis. We believe the flaws were dreamed up to block our rights.

For another 6 months, Parliament has sat on the Copyright Amendment Bill, facing ongoing lobbying from the same multinational corporations and local vested interests. If there are any flaws they can and must be fixed in days, or a few weeks at most. Nothing justifies the postponement of our rights.

As our democratic government we wish to put you on notice that you have a duty to respect, protect, promote and fulfil our rights. The CAB does this by adopting modern copyright exceptions modelled on examples that exist in other open and democratic societies based on human dignity, equality and freedom. You cannot continue to speak of disabled rights whilst causing a book famine. You cannot claim to care about the creative sector whilst denying us livelihoods. You cannot continue to claim credit for the Fourth Industrial Revolution whilst lacking the spine to pass the laws that will bring it about.

The time has come to stand up to vested interests and pass laws that serve the poor black majority in this country. The time has come to return the Copyright Amendment Bill to the President and sign it into law.

We kindly request that you respond to us by 27 January 2021 indicating your proposed way forward to achieve a resolution of these issues rapidly within the upcoming parliamentary session in 2021.

Yours sincerely

Blind SA
South African Disability Alliance (SADA)
South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) South African Braille Authority (SABA)
Right2Know Campaign (R2K)
ReCreate South Africa
Southern African Freelancers Association (SAFREA) Concerned Musicians and Creators
South Africa Guild of Actors (SAGA)
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
Wikimedia South Africa

June 16 2020: A Sad Day for South African Youth

On June 16th we celebrate the resistance by the youth of Soweto and across South Africa to oppressive laws that limited their future education prospects based on race. In 1976 black school students left their desks to protest the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. The massacre of students that followed was one of the darkest days in the history of apartheid.

Sadly, 44 years later on June 16th 2020, we faced another dark day for the prospects of our young people. In a letter which received little media attention, President Cyril Ramaphosa referred the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament. This move by the President could dash the future education and employment prospects of millions more young South Africans.

The Copyright Amendment Bill, drafted by the Department of Trade and Industry over the past decade and passed by our Parliament ready for the President’s signature in March 2019, sought to open up the doors of learning and culture to young people. In fact, its spirit was very much in line with the aims of the Freedom Charter that inspired Tsietsi Mashinini and his comrades in 1976.

Strict enforcement of copyright on books and other publications through the outdated Copyright Act of 1978, has been hampering access to learning. The high prices charged for academic textbooks in South Africa (often higher than the prices charged for the same books in the USA) are heartless and discriminatory. If publishers refuse to make books available affordably, the new Copyright Amendment Bill would have allowed students and teachers to access the books in the interest of poor learners, one of the issues raised by the #FeesMustFall movement.

Similar provisions in the Bill opened the doors to high tech innovation by local creators and entrepreneurs. For example, if game developers in emerging technology hubs like Cape Town or Braamfontein wanted to adapt ideas from international video game titles for the local market, that would be considered “fair use”. If local TV and film producers featured clips of historical movies in their productions they would similarly be exempt from strict copyright controls. This is especially important for Africa, since the majority of all copyright royalties currently flow to the USA and Europe.

Creators in the United States have enjoyed these fair use provisions for generations, and fair use has helped to build vibrant creative and tech sectors in countries like South Korea. But it was too much for US movie studios for an African country to adopt a similar law. Publicly and privately, the Motion Picture Association of America teamed up with multinational book publishers and billion dollar record companies  to pressure our President not to sign into law a bill that would have given our creators a chance to compete and our students a chance to learn (see https://www.keionline.org/33212).

No matter that the Copyright Amendment Bill (and associated Performers Protection Bill) also sought to empower blind people to access copyrighted works in accessible formats. Or that the Bills sought to give South African actors access to a slice of the income when a popular drama is sold abroad, or to more easily claim ongoing royalties alongside their foreign counterparts in international movies.  Or that the bills aimed to give libraries the right to archive important historical works.

Despite this long list of benefits of the legislation, it was vehemently opposed by an Alliance of vested interests, from huge publishers, record companies, Hollywood Studios, global content streaming services and our own media mega-monopoly Multichoice/DSTV. Other opponents of the bills included royalty collecting bodies who have often been accused of squandering  millions that should have been paid to artists, and who would have been regulated by the Bills.

In a move reminiscent of the fight with US drug companies for affordable AIDS medicines in the 1990s, the US Trade Representative even threatened to remove US trade benefits if South Africa passed the Copyright Amendment Bill.

Thousands of activists, teachers, learners, librarians, entrepreneurs, freedom of expression advocates and grassroots creatives had hoped President Ramaphosa would resist the pressure to ditch the Bills. But in an era when South African politicians are often seen cap-in-hand begging for foreign investment, it is not surprising that our President capitulated.

In a stinging rebuke to his own ANC comrades who spent 10 years drafting the legislation, he said the Bills failed to pass constitutional muster. He quoted extensively from the arguments made by the vested interests who had lobbied against the bills. He repeated their false assertions that there had not been enough consultation. 

The President had sat on the Bills for over a year until BlindSA’s constitutional court challenge caused him to act.  Could it be that he didn’t have time to apply his mind properly given all that is going on in the country?  We trust that he did not merely cave in to the pressure from the powerful lobbies, something that would be a dereliction of his duty.

The President has  passed the bills back to the National Assembly. That's fortunate for those of us who still have faith in South African democracy. We know that our elected MPs from all parties will look carefully at the President’s objections, and reject those that are not based in law or fact. We know that the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry will execute its duty to look only at the facts and not be swayed by threats or lies by those who seek to become richer from copyrights at the expense of the masses.

This is a vital continuation of the struggle for equality and opportunity by the youth of 1976.

 

 

South African Democratic Teachers Union

Independent Beneficiaries Forum

South African Guild of Actors

ReCreate South Africa

Section 27

BlindSA


South African Communist Party Augmented Central Committee statement

6 – 8 September 2019

The SACP held its Annual Augmented Central Committee Strategic Planning Session over the weekend of September 6th to 8th in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. This annual meeting includes a wider representation from SACP provinces and districts, as well as from the Young Communist League of South Africa. The session is ordinarily held at the end of the year, but has been brought forward as the SACP will be holding a Special National Congress in December 2019.

The Annual Augmented Central Committee (CC) was therefore tasked with finalising preparations for the Special National Congress and assessing the current developments in our country and the region. To this end the meeting received a number of reports and discussion papers, covering different aspects of Party life and the unfolding economic, political and broader social context. In this regard the General Secretary, Cde Blade Nzimande, presented the Political Report.

Gender based violence in particular

The CC noted that violence is often closely related to conditions of inequality and oppression of the capitalist system. To this end the SACP re-asserted its view that the eradication of all forms of violence in society requires the building of a more just society, characterised by equality and social justice and, for the working class, socialism.

Flowing from the above, the CC strongly condemned acts of violence in general and gender based violence in particular, including rape, femicide and women abuse. The meeting reaffirmed the SACP’s unwavering commitment to the struggles against gender based violence. Already two years ago we launched our Red October Campaign focusing on gender based violence, as it was becoming clearer to us that unless our structures and society as a whole are mobilised we may be overwhelmed by this scourge. The CC also took the occasion of its meeting to express its sincere condolences, on behalf of the entire membership of the SACP, to all families that lost their loved ones as a result of gender based violence.

The CC further noted that women in general, including women living with disabilities, as well as LGBTIQ+ community members are the most and worst affected by the scourge of gender based violence. Children are also severely impacted. An increasing number of our schools and higher learning institutions are also becoming sites of different types of violence, including gender based violence. A multi-pronged strategy

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is required to deal with this challenge. The CC resolved that the SACP must, as part of our contribution, intensify its campaign against violence in general and gender based violence in particular.

Next month, October 2019, we are launching our Red October Campaign 2019–2020 to build a variety of organisational fronts to primarily confront gender based violence in society and other challenges in our communities, as well as in local government, and defend our democracy.

The CC stressed the increased importance of proper socialisation and equal treatment of all children, including now the necessity to focus on both the girl and the boy child. The girl child is as important as the boy child, and the boy child is as important as the girl child. This must find active expression in every household, community and other social settings, regardless of tradition, culture and religion.

The CC has called for integration of gender transformation in teaching and learning content in our school, college and university curriculum. This must be aimed at eliminating gender based violence and sexual harassment in all their forms and manifestations. The proposed change in curriculum must start at the foundation level and be consistently maintained throughout schooling and our education system, particularly in Life Orientation but as well as in all other subjects.

Call for action against gender based violence

In line with our ongoing Red October Campaign against violence in general and gender based violence in particular, initiated in 2017, the Party will, in consultation with our allies, and in particular with COSATU and its affiliates, organise ongoing and effective broad mass actions against the scourge.

Party Districts and branches will engage a broad range of organisations at community level to ensure the broadest possible mobilisation of the communities, women, men and LGBTQI+ community members against gender based violence. This campaign will include making proposals and demands to government about improving the criminal justice and social services delivery on gender based violence cases and support to survivors of gender based violence and families of those murdered through the scourge. This will include developing proposals on how Thuthuzela Care Centres model needs to be revised to be appropriate to rural areas where large distances make access to such centres difficult.

The campaign will also aim to popularise the Gender Based Violence Command Centre 0800428428 so that all vulnerable people and survivors of gender based violence are able to access the support of the police, social workers and medical staff through this hotline. It will include addressing the issues of sexual harassment, gender based violence and deaths in the workplace, including in the public sector and State Owned Enterprises. The Campaign will aim to strengthen community organisation into street committees and to ensure participation in Community Police Forums in order to enhance community safety for all people, women, children, LGBTQI+ community, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

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The campaign will also include building close working relationships with non- governmental and not-for-profit organisations involved in providing support to survivors of gender based violence. The Party has also decided to explore a programme of training Party members as self-defence trainers, who will then be able to train the vulnerable in our communities in self-defence.

Violence, drugs and high levels of criminality

The CC strongly condemned the acts of violence, looting and other criminal activities perpetrated early this week and the week before, mainly in the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, and in other parts of the country. Several shops belonging to foreign nationals, mostly, but as well as to South Africans, were looted in Gauteng Province and others burnt by criminal elements. In KwaZulu-Natal, trucks and other heavy and extra-heavy production vehicles were used to erect blockades in certain areas of our national roads infrastructure network, thus clearly engaging in acts of sabotage. There can be no justification whatsoever for these and other criminal acts, regardless of what the underlying causes are.

The CC reiterated the SACP’s consistent call for decisive lawful action to be taken against acts of criminality, including gender based violence, gangsterism, murder, drug dealing, human trafficking, as well as abduction and sexual abuse of young women. These and other forms of criminality are ravaging many households and our communities, and are destroying our ubuntu/botho social fabric as well as the future of our youth and society at large.

The criminals, both foreign nationals and South Africans alike, must be hunted down and held to account to the full might of the law without any fear, favour and prejudice. Criminal law must be strengthened, including through harsher imprisonment terms, to decisively rid our society of crime, all this duly taking into account the human rights based society we seek to build.

It is also clear to the SACP that unless the issue of drugs and substance abuse is also dealt with, we would not deal with criminality in society in general. What sometimes comes across as xenophobic attacks results from the failure of law enforcement agencies to deal with drug dealing by some of the foreign nationals as well as South Africans and the resultant anger in our communities.

The SACP is further calling upon all the people who live in South Africa to desist from taking the law into their own hands. Instead, we need to forge a widest possible patriotic front to defend our Constitution and democracy, and to work together in programmes such as the SACP initiated campaign against violence in general and gender based violence in particular.

Erosion of state authority by corporate state capture and infiltration by criminal networks

Related to the above, the CC expressed deep concern about the erosion of the capacity and strategic discipline of the state, in particular crime intelligence, the Police, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), State Security Agency, and even the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This erosion of state authority in

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many ways and by no small measure has left many households and communities exposed to unabated criminality, which in turn engenders rising levels of anger and its eruption in the form of violent reactions in the coalface of helplessness.

Working class communities and lower sections of the middle strata are the most and worst affected, while the rich have resorted to gating their upmarket areas and engaging armies of private security companies to protect themselves. The erosion in the past years of state authority, in this case especially law enforcement agencies, is a direct result of corporate state capture. As the commissions of inquiry into state capture and tax administration and governance by SARS as well as the high level intelligence service review panel have heard, affected state organs were repurposed to either turn a blind eye to state capture or aid rogue or criminal activities. Associated with this is the infiltration of the very law enforcement agencies by criminal networks

The general outcry in many of our communities about the failure of state organs established to combat crime and corruption is well known. Linked with it, there are rising levels of lack of confidence and even mistrust in our law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system.

Therefore unless drastic action is taken, starting at the top echelons responsible for state capture, it will remain almost impossible to restore the integrity and legitimacy of the affected state organs, and to rebuild their capacity and strategic discipline to perform their work competently and meticulously without favour, fear and prejudice. The CC therefore reiterates the consistent call by the SACP for a thorough, specialised investigation into the manifestation and impact of state capture in, and criminal infiltration of, state organs established to combat crime and corruption.

These problems, gender based violence, violence in general and the crisis of social reproduction, are a reflection of the crisis of the capitalist system. The system is in crisis both globally and domestically.

Economic strategy for South Africa

The CC discussed the National Treasury’s paper, entitled “Economic transformation, inclusive growth, and competitiveness: Towards an economic Strategy for SouthAfrica”, released on 27 August 2019. The paper incorporates capitalist economic policy reformist prescriptions from the “OECD Economic Surveys: South Africa” and“Economic Policy Reforms 2017: Going for Growth” developed by the elite Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2017.

The national democratic sovereignty of our policy space is sacrosanct. The codification of the OECD economic reforms in the “...economic Strategy for SouthAfrica” and the process followed in developing and releasing the paper undermined, first and foremost organisationally, the primary mandating role of the ANC-headed Alliance. It is absolutely important to uphold, at all material times, the integrity and role of South Africa’s economic and labour policy formulation processes as well as social dialogue institutions established in terms of the Constitution and the other law of the Republic. Regarding Cabinet members, they have all taken an oath or affirmation of office. This includes upholding confidentiality on matters related to internal processes and documents of the Executive. The SACP had no sight of the document both

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independently and as part of the Alliance, until its sudden public release. The paper was released on the eve of South Africa hosting the World Economic Forum. This timing is interesting, in addition given the codification of the OECD economic reforms in the paper and the absence of proper consultation.

The SACP resolutely rejects the OECD prescription of weakening social dialogue parameters in South Africa – in this regard particularly collective bargaining. This unfortunately runs counter to the spirit of the Thuma Mina Campaign and the need for social compacting as led by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The CC accordingly dismisses the idea, codified in the National Treasury paper, to roll-back the legally recognised extension of collective bargaining agreements.

Furthermore, the National Treasury paper problematises the exemption application required to ensure compliance with the legislated national minimum wage. The exemption requirement is a protective device for workers against abuse by greedy employers. It is important not only in order to ensure compliance with the legislated national minimum wage, but also with collective bargaining agreements, towards a living wage for all workers. In contradiction, greedy employers want to privately accumulate virtually all production income and leave the labouring force with absolutely nothing except below minimum wages and below social floor conditions. The CC decisively denounced this as well as a similar anti-worker proposition that wage increases are responsible for entrenching inequality and rising unemployment.

Related to the above, the ANC developed its manifesto for the sixth democratic general election held in May 2019 in consultation with the Alliance. The manifesto was accordingly endorsed by all Alliance components as well as supportive progressive South Africans. It was consequently taken to the electorate for endorsement on the ballot. It is important to remain true to history and truthful to our people. The entire progressive thrust of the manifesto must be articulated consistently in policy making in government rather than undermined.

For that cause, the SACP reiterates the strategic perspective, enshrined in the manifesto, of the absolute necessity to move our national democratic transition on to a second radical phase. Arising out of the CC the SACP will therefore push among others the following national strategic imperatives aimed at achieving structural economic transformation and radically reducing inequality, poverty and unemployment.

  1. A comprehensive and coherent industrial policy, digital industrial strategy, and an innovation, research and development master plan, aimed at developing, diversifying and raising the levels of national production.

  2. Related to the above, in November-December 2018 the Department of Trade and Industry released the South African Automotive Master Plan with the objective of raising the levels of production and employment in the sector, notably through manufacturing localisation, deepening and widening local manufacturing value addition. Similarly, sector master plans must be developed for each strategic industry to give practical effect to the much needed comprehensive and coherent industrial policy, digital industrial strategy, and innovation, research and development. In this regard the Industrial Policy Action plan must be strengthened and adequately funded rather than weakened.

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  1. The National Skills Development Plan (NSDP) released by the Department of Higher Education and Training in March 2019 must be reinforced to rigorously support national production development as well as diversification. Sector Skills Plans (SSPs) must effectively elaborate rigorous sector-specific programmes and more informed skills targets to drive NSDP objectives and equip the youth and the unemployed to find work. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges must actively support the NSDP and SSPs, through, among others, a transformed curriculum and an increase in the number of skills programmes, full and part-qualifications they offer. South Africa must create a wide-ranging pool of professional, technical and vocational skills and qualifications in the TVET sector to continuously improve the quality of public services and diversify industrial production.

  2. Partnerships between the bodies responsible for qualifications development and quality assurance in higher education and training (inclusive of the TVET sector) and Sector Education and Training Authorities must foster greater collaboration to achieve vertical articulation of qualifications and lift up TVET colleges. Greater support must be provided to TVET as well as community colleges to adequately equip both the theoretical and practical components of their curriculum. Industry as a whole must come to the party; open up the workplace as a training space and offer apprenticeships, internships, learnerships and other registered workplace training programmes for the unemployed and the youth. Government, institutions of learning, training authorities and industry must advance a combination of education and training with public service and industrial production. This must be given expression in our curriculum.

  3. The publicly-owned sector of our economy must be turned around, expanded and safeguarded against conveyance in any form to, and therefore capture by, private profit interests. Public entities and state-owned enterprises must be rescued from the crisis they were plunged into by corporate state capture, other forms of corruption, mismanagement, maladministration and inadequate oversight by government and parliament. More than ever before South Africa needs a thriving publicly-owned economic sector to drive national transformation and development imperatives destined for lifting the quality of life of our people. The CC therefore reiterated the SACP’s strong opposition to privatisation at Eskom, as well as to the privatisation of our national broadband spectrum, rail, water, Telkom and other strategic infrastructure, among others.

  4. Alignment of monetary and fiscal policies as well as the broader macro-policy framework to support national production development and decent work, inclusive of employment growth. In this regard, the CC resolutely reaffirmed the SACP’spolicy position for the South African Reserve Bank Act to be amended in line with our Constitution to make explicit employment growth targeting, promote transparency and give accountability full play towards this national imperative on the part of the Bank.

  5. Financial sector transformation, containing, as part of the whole, decisive measures to direct investment into the productive sectors of the economy, including through prescribed assets, to create decent work and grow employment. As an indispensible part of this national imperative, South Africa must pursue a thriving

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co-operative baking system for the benefit of the workers and the poor – the overwhelming majority of our people.

  1. Development of the co-operative sector, and the solidarity economy at large, and thus adequate legislative, incentives, capacity building and other forms of material support for co-operatives to thrive across the economy.

  2. Review outsourced services, on a state-wide basis, to roll-back the hollowing out of the organic capacity and strategic discipline of the state by state capture and other forms of corruption, and build a capable national democratic developmental state, support the development of the co-operative sector as well as small and medium enterprises. The Department of Small Businesses must be renamed the Department of Co-operatives Development and Small Businesses.

The importance of thorough Alliance consultation and inclusive public policy making processes cannot be overemphasised.

Enactment of Copyright and Performers’ Protection Amendment Bills

The SACP is calling upon the President to sign the Copyright and Performers’Protection Amendment Bills into law. At present many artists find themselves obliged to sign contracts with record companies, producers or distributors/publishers that deprive them of royalty payments for their work. The enactment of the Bills will create mechanisms for the artists to receive a fair share of royalties and prohibit unfair contracts. The exploitation of our artists must be brought to an end.

The SACP is calling upon our artists to come together, protect their labour and work together to resolve problems if there are any among themselves and in public policy formulation.

National Health Insurance

The SACP will continue mobilising our structures and society at large, working together with our allies, to support the introduction of the National Health Insurance.

The power of unity

It is going to be difficult to overcome all the challenges our society is faced with unless the ANC and the Alliance are united. In the coming period the SACP will be focusing on ensuring that this unity of purpose is realised, as part of our programme to forge a widest possible patriotic front, in addition to building a popular left front.

Special National Congress

The CC has thoroughly prepared for the Special National Congress to be held in the first half of December 2019. Between now and then SACP provinces, districts and branches as well as the Young Communist League of South Africa will be engaging on the wide range of discussion papers. Further details of the Special National Congress will be announced in due course.

The Department of Trade and Industry Statement

MEDIA RELEASE

18 AUGUST 2019

PROPOSED LEGISLATION WILL BENEFIT MUSICIANS SIGNIFICANTLY – DEPUTY MINISTER GINA

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Nomalungelo Gina says the amendment of the Copyright Act of 1978 and the Performers’ Protection Act of 1967 will significantly benefit South African musicians. Gina was speaking at a ceremony to announce the 2019 South African Traditional Music Achievement (SATMA) Awards nominees in Nelspruit last night.

“the dti is the custodian of the Copyright Act of 1978 and the Performers’ Protection Act of 1967 that recognise the rights of musicians to their musical works and their performances and provides economic benefits. Both these Acts are outdated and not in line with international best practices as well as the digital era, hence the department engaged on an initiative to amend them. The bills to amend the two Acts have undergone a parliamentary process and are currently with President Cyril Ramaphosa for his signature after been approved by both the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces,” said Gina.

She added that the Bills elicited different views with some stakeholders supporting them and others against their passing into law.

“However, we at the dti are of the view that both legislation will go a long way to ensure that our musicians maximise the opportunities available to them to exploit their talents and to form part of the mainstream economy. Mention is made of these laws because today is about the recognition of traditional music and musicians in this genre and their talents as well as their creativity. This is a special annual event that recognises the creative expressions of the musicians in South Africa who specialise in traditional music,” said Gina.

She added that if well regulated, supported, protected and commercialised, the cultural industries, which include musical, literary, artistic, dramatic works, as well as film and television, could lead to economic boom.

She cited studies in the United States of America that show that copyright-based industries grow exponentially even if the economy was under depression as core copyright-based industries add about $1.3. trillion to American economy.

“This happens when the sector is well-regulated with a progressive copyright regime. The laws that protect and promote traditional music must be an enabler for traditional music to thrive. This can be achieved, amongst others, when musicians view music as a business, when broadcasters, recording companies and collecting societies collect and pay royalties, when government open markets for our traditional music in the continent and abroad, when traditional musicians collaborate with other musicians in producing other genres; and when traditional musicians use technology to access domestic and international markets,” emphasised Gina.

CAPTION: Deputy Minister Gina at a ceremony announcing the 2019 SATMA Awards nominees in Nelspruit.

Enquiries:

Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson

Tel: (012) 394 1650

Mobile: 079 492 1774

E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za

Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry

Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti

(Originally published: http://www.thedti.gov.za/editmedia.jsp?id=5957)

Open letter to the President of South Africa

26 April 2019

Dear President Ramaphosa,

Declaration of Support for the Copyright Amendment Bill

We are writers, filmmakers, producers, photographers, actors, teachers, professors, students, learners, librarians, journalists, artists, poets, software developers, technology entrepreneurs, freedom of expression activists, disability activists, game developers, producers of accessible format materials, educational content producers and many other diverse South Africans.

Amongst us, our organisations represent over half a million South Africans.

In South Africa the law has not protected our interests. We work in industries where many of us are systematically disempowered. We are working under apartheid-era legislation which favours historical and international monopolies which have control of money and power.   

 

This power imbalance must end now.

We welcome the passing of the Copyright Amendment Bill by both the National Assembly and the National Council of the Provinces and encourage you to sign the Bill into law without delay.  The Bill has undergone a lengthy consultative process at the various stages and is a good reflection of a transformative vision for a more equal and just society. The Bill also brings South African legislation in line with international treaties.

As filmmakers and photographers, we applaud the provisions which firstly make it easier for us to own our work, and secondly to critically engage with other creative works to tell our stories.

As fine artists, we welcome the introduction of a resale royalty, so that we the creators also benefit when our works become more valuable over time. 

As educators, librarians and students, we commend the Bill for making it possible to access much-needed educational materials, and to produce decolonised learning materials in all South African languages. This will particularly benefit disadvantaged and excluded learners. Libraries will also finally be able to digitise and preserve our cultural heritage.

As disabled rights activists, this Bill will finally empower us and give us access to opportunities denied to us by the lack of works in accessible formats, such as Braille.

As actors, musicians and performers, after decades of exploitation, we look forward to having control over our work, the choice of how it is used, and the right to fair remuneration and royalties for the continued usage of our work. 

As digital entrepreneurs, we welcome the modernisation of Fair Use in the Bill which allows us to compete on a global stage in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to game development. 

As journalists and activists we believe the Bill makes a key contribution to the protection of free expression and access to information, which are essential components of a democratic and inclusive society.

As writers, authors and composers, we praise the Bill for redressing a historical imbalance by ensuring that assigned copyrights revert to the author and by introducing royalties for additional uses of our works.

And as creators across the board, we believe the regulation of collective management organisations is extremely urgent to prevent our income being mismanaged and to ensure that CMOs are accountable to the artists and creators they exist to serve.

When it comes to Fair Use of copyrighted materials we applaud the approach taken in the Bill, which increases access without substituting in the market of the original creator.

We look forward to playing our part in a dynamic, inclusive and decolonised creative economy with the support of the Copyright Amendment Bill and the Performers Protection Amendment Bill.

 

#SignTheBills  #EndExploitation  #DecoloniseTheCreativeEconomy

#SupportCreatorsNotProfiteers   #EducationForAll

SUPPORTED BY:

South African Democratic Teachers Union

National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa

SAOU Teachers Union

South African Guild of Actors

Wikimedia ZA

Right2Know

ReCreateSA

Freedom of Expression Institute

SA Right to Read Coalition:

  • Blind SA

  • Daisy SA

  • SA Library for the Blind

  • SA Braille Authority

  • SA National Council for the Blind

  • SA Disability Alliance

  • Tape Aids for the Blind

STATEMENT BY RECREATE SOUTH AFRICA ON THE PASSING OF THE COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL

10 December 2018

ReCreate South Africa is a coalition of coalition of writers, filmmakers, photographers, educational content producers, software and video game developers, technology entrepreneurs, artists, poets, producers of accessible format materials and other South African creators. ReCreate South Africa welcomes the passing of the Copyright Amendment Bill by the National Assembly. This historic move provides clear guidelines and balance between the rights of creators and users. ReCreate South Africa notes the lengthy consultative approach adopted by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry. We applaud the passage of a bill that serves creator interests by respecting three key rights to enable us to create the next generation of South African content for the world:

THE RIGHT TO CREATE.

The Bill creates modern exceptions to copyright, including a balanced “fair use” right, that permit digital and other uses necessary to make original work and to exercise our freedom of expression.

THE RIGHT TO OWN.

The Bill removes the Apartheid-era standard that made the commissioner of many works the default owner of our art.

THE RIGHT TO EARN.

The Bill improves the regulation of contracts and collective management organisations to ensure we are paid for our work and protected against abuse and exploitation. The Copyright Amendment Bill is a step in the right direction in that it brings South African legislation in line with its international treaty obligations. The hybrid system improves on the fair dealing system by introducing a fair use principle. Fair use provides a list of four criteria which will provide better access to information. The exceptions for uses such as research, education, libraries, archives, format shifting and for people living with disabilities are welcomed.These amendments are long overdue and provide the necessary clarity in our copyright law. ReCreate further welcomes the support of creators, teachers’ unions, educators, authors, and student activists who look forward to the implementation of the fair use system and access to knowledge and information.

For further information please contact:

Tusi Fokane (ReCreate Coordinator) tusifokane@gmail.com

Download a copy of this statement here.

STATEMENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH COUNCIL ON THE COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL

For Immediate Release

Date 18 June 2019

Protect Performers Protect our Heritage

The inability of artist, musicians and creatives to benefit directly from their talents is common refrain in the South African creative Arts industry. The South African Youth Council(SAYC) and by extension the South African Youth, can attest to an infinite number of talented individuals in South Africa’s music culture (for instance) who are now paupers, as a result of unscrupulous, parasitic and exploitative collecting societies both in and out of the country.

The status quo legislation is not only archaic, it laced with structural impediments especially for Black South Africans.

It is for this reason that SAYC, supports initiatives by the government to promulgate legislation which protects the intellectual property of South African’s. In its text it is clear that the government has an express intention to protect creatives from unscrupulous collecting societies.

Perhaps most importantly, the Copy Right Amendment Bill, codifies what is referred to as a fair use doctrine by adopting a hybrid model which has a direct bearing on the youth in so far access to educational material is concerned. Under the new regime of copy right law South Africans will for the first time be able to create, innovate and exploit the opportunities that come with a digital economy as we embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

We note that those argue that the bill will have adverse effects on the economy are the very same individuals who exclusively own the rights to Mama Mirriam Makeba’s artistic works, or that of Simon Linda and many other South African greats, at the expense of their immediate families.

It is time we protect our future by ensuring that where educational literature and or material is concerned no barrier should be an impediment for the acquisition of knowledge. In the same breath we must ensure that our heritage, the works of our forebears, are given the necessary stature and protection. This can only happen if President Cyril Ramaphosa assents to the Copy Rights Amendment Bill.

Ends.

Enquiries
Thembinkosi Josopu
South African Youth Council President
Cell:+27766757912