A Week of Debates on Copyright and Access to Knowledge
in Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa from 23 - 27 January 2023.

Join policymakers, academics and activists from across the continent. Including African researchers, legal experts, and intergovernmental organisations.

www.re-createza.org/r2r

Activists participating in a UN Human Rights Day protest made up a broad coalition of disability rights organisations, education unions and creatives. They marched from the offices of the Department of Trade and Industry in Pretoria – custodians of the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB) – to the Union Buildings to hand over a memorandum which details their demands for fair copyright legislation.

By Linda Daniels, Daily Maverick, 10 December 2020

Universities in South Africa pay more than 10 times as much for course-pack licences as their university presses gain in licensing revenue from course packs. If the Bill were passed, and assuming that all course-pack licensing ceased — which we do not agree the Bill requires — then universities would have millions of extra rands they could reinvest in scholarly publishing and access. This would benefit, not harm, universities and students.

By Ahmed Bawa, Mail & Guardian, 13 December 2019

The USTR’s decision to review South Africa’s preferred trade status is in response to a complaint filed on behalf of large US entertainment companies concerning the pending Copyright Amendment Bill. The US entertainment companies have complained that the bill’s fair use and other exceptions are too broad. They are also reportedly critical of the sections of the law that would give local creators greater rights to own, earn and create new works.

By Linda Daniels, Daily Maverick, 5 December 2019

The copyright wars are a test of sovereignty. What the government does on copyright reform today — and patent reform tomorrow — will determine whether SA is indeed a regional leader, an anchor of Brics (the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA), a moral and economic powerhouse in the emerging world, or merely another weak country whose democratic will can be trampled at the flick of a faraway finger.

By Andrew Rens and Achal Prabhala, Business Live, 5 December 2019

A continuing problem with the publishing industry, especially where profitable schools educational markets are concerned, remains, to this day, the level of foreign ownership in the companies that dominate the educational markets. In fact, educational publishing remains a largely untransformed business in terms of ownership, still predominantly White, and when it comes to English language publishing, dominated by British publishers and their local, South African branches or partnerships with local publishers. There are also some big Afrikaans companies, formerly connected to the apartheid government, but with diversified interests in the post-apartheid period – Naspers, for example now has very big holdings in cell phones in China.

Eve Gray, Info Justice, 4 December 2019

The Copyright Amendment Bill of 2019 (CAB/the Bill) in South Africa raises many questions surrounding how this piece of pending legislation will function if it is passed into law in its current form. The Bill has caused much controversy among both creators and practitioners and it is important that parties speak out with a view to clear the air and enhance understanding of the possible reforms. Denise Nicholson of the University of Witwatersrand provides a series of questions and answers pertaining to general features of the Bill and the controversial doctrine of fair use. In the interest of disclosure Denise is an active supporter of the CAB in its current form.

By Denise Nicholson, Afro-Ip, 29 November 2019

The Copyright Amendment Bill is a controversial piece of pending legislation that has led to much discord in the IP community. Many seem to think that it completely disharmonises the system of creation and control- one of the hallmarks of copyright law in national and international systems. With a world-first interpretation of the doctrine of fair use creating broad exceptions, there are many instances where creators will stand to have diminished rights over their work.

By Afro-Ip, 27 November 2019

In April 2019, the office of the President of South Africa was petitioned not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill into law. It was thought by some that the outcomes of the promulgation of this pending legislation would have devastating effects on creators of work as well as the economy at large. There were also, however, many supporters of the Bill. This has divided the IP community to a great extent with parties pitted against each other and indeed there is no clear-cut way to proceed. Today, the Bill remains on the desk of the President, with no real resolution in sight. Thrust frequently into the media and otherwise in the public domain, incensed debate surrounding the Bill continues day after day. The following post will provide links to what is being said in the news in the hopes that readers will gain an understanding of the debate surrounding the Bill.

By Afro-Ip, 27 November 2019

In South Africa, the president is not allowed to refuse to sign a bill into law because he or she disagrees politically with the bill or merely because he or she believes that it is flawed in some other way. Neither is he or she allowed – as Macpherson demanded – to refuse to sign a bill into law and, instead, to refer it back to Parliament to ask it to “fix” the bill for either policy reasons or because the president believes the bill is flawed

Pierre De Vos, Daily Maverick, 21 November 2019

Marks also insisted that she saw no danger of South Africa being suspended or disqualified from the trade benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). In 2016 the US provisionally and temporarily suspended some SA Agoa benefits — rescinding duty-free access to the US market on wine and fruit — because of import barriers on US poultry. Recently the threat has re-surfaced as the US trade representative announced in October 2019 a new review of South Africa’s Agoa benefits in response to a petition filed by the International Intellectual Property Alliance about South Africa’s poor protection and enforcement of copyrights.

By Peter Fabricius, Daily Maverick, 14 November 2019

The Presidency has quashed reports that it has decided to send the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament following a review by the United States trade representative (USTR) of South Africa’s preferred trade status with the US. Spokesperson for the president, Khusela Diko confirmed: “The president is still considering the bill. Let’s allow him to apply his mind to the bill.” When pressed, Diko would not confirm when the president is expected to sign the bill into law. “I wouldn’t like to put a timeframe to it,” she said.

By Linda Daniels, Daily Maverick 13 November 2019

Multinational intellectual property industries are striking back at South Africa with their same old tools. They again threaten trade sanctions and litigation. And again a South African president is being asked to back down.

By Anele Yawa, Rehad Desai, Ben Cashdan and Sanya Samtani, Daily Maverick, 10 November 2019

New copyright legislation will be the first government implementation of policy for the fourth industrial revolution in SA.

By Andrew Rens, Business Day, 15 October 2019

Calls for the rights of actors to be respected shift to the Copyright and Performers Protection Amendment Bills awaiting presidential signature. Amid suggestions that the bills be delinked, Host Aldrin Sampear asks actress Nambitha Mpulwana for response. She explains why bills are coupled and hands over to SAGA's Jack Devnarain.

With Aldrin Sampear Power Talk, PowerFM, 15 October 2019

The Copyright Amendment Bill gives those with disabilities greater access to copyrighted material while supporting education and creators. But it is yet to be signed into law and not everyone is behind it. 

By Linda Daniels, New Frame, 14 October 2019

On Tuesday the country exploded in uproar as one of South Africa’s most successful actors, Vatiswa Ndara, published a letter detailing the exploitation of herself and other actors in South Africa. Unfortunate threats of legal action in response did little to address the injustices detailed in Vatiswa’s exposé.

By Adrian Galley, The Daily Maverick, 11 October 2019

South Africa’s current copyright law was enacted 41 years ago. The Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978 had no provisions for people with disabilities – and that hasn’t changed in more than four decades.

This means that every time a person who is blind, deaf, partially-sighted, dyslexic, or paralysed needs to access any information, the content has to be converted into an accessible format before they can read and understand it.

By Denise Nicholson, The Conversation, 15 September 2019

Aphiwe Nomandla is a second year computer science student at the University of the Western Cape. To date, the cost of prescribed textbooks for his course ranged from R799 to R3,985. He said most students could not afford to buy the required textbooks.

“Well, the textbooks have different editions. So what most students do is get an older version like three versions older. It has the same content still. And others just go to pirate websites and download them there.”

The texts Nomandla and his fellow students need may become much more accessible when the Copyright Amendment Bill becomes law.

By Linda Daniels, GroundUp, 30 August 2019

If the project of decolonising education aims to shatter the barriers that keep formal learning within the province of the elite, in terms of both curriculums and spaces, then expanding access to education (and educational materials) is a crucial piece of the puzzle. The Copyright Amendment Bill of 2017 is a move towards enabling a majority of South Africans to participate in the previously inaccessible community of scholarship. In amending the apartheid-era Copyright Act of 1978 to introduce provisions that enable access to educational materials it contributes to the democratisation of knowledge and the fulfilment of the Bill of Rights.

By Sanya Samtani, Mail & Guardian, 19 August 2019

“At the heart of this row is the new South African Copyright Amendment Bill, currently waiting for presidential signature and especially, among others, the provisions for the introduction of fair use into the South African creative industries, a topic that has been the subject of many angry and agitated dialogues (and monologues, for that matter).”

By Graysouth, 02 July 2019

The reform of copyright law in South Africa, particularly for the library and educational sectors, has been a long and bumpy road since 1998. Our copyright law is 41 years old – and broken! The exceptions for education, research, and libraries and archives have not been amended since 1978. The Act has no provisions for people with disabilities, nor provisions for galleries and museums. Being so old, it obviously does not address the digital world. “Fair dealing” in Section 12 of the Act is outdated, limited and not ‘future-proof’.

By Denise Nicholson, Info Justice, 07 June 2019

A broad coalition of creators and access to knowledge advocates have petitioned the President of South Africa to urgently sign the Copyright Amendment Bill before him. The petition (https://www.re-createza.org/) is endorsed by organizations representing over half a million South African creators, teachers, people with disabilities and others who rely on copyright access and protection. It calls for the President to sign the Bill “without delay,” including to enact into copyright law “a transformative vision for a more equal and just society.” The petition is the latest step in a decades long campaign to enact development- focused copyright reform that is sensitive to South Africa’s particular social and economic context.

By William New, Info Justice, 30 April 2019

Freedom of Panorama is the right to take photos of public works of art and share them with others, for example placing the photos on the Internet. Examples of this are the public facing façades of buildings, monuments such as statues, or arguably even election posters that are tied to street poles advocating for political parties in the upcoming election. All of which are located in public spaces such as on the street or in parks and walkways.

The current statute does not explicitly allow for this. Worse than that, it is written in such a way that makes it possible for the owners of public works to sue people photographing them and sharing them over the Internet.

By Douglas Scott, Ground Up, 25 April 2019

[I]f you or someone you know has taken a photograph of a recently built monument, such as the statue of Nelson Mandela in Sandton, and shared that photograph with people on Twitter or Facebook (for example) then, according to a strict interpretation of current copyright law, the owner of that statue could sue you.

This opens up possibilities for private censorship in addition to criminalising large numbers of law-abiding citizens for doing something people reasonably believe is both otherwise legal and normal. 

For Wikipedia this is especially problematic. Wikipedia policy takes the strictest possible interpretation of copyright law to guide our use of adding content.

By Douglas Scott, Business Day, 24 April 2019

Visually impaired people in South Africa are being deprived access to millions of publications due to delays in approving the Copyright Amendment Bill, rights group Blind SA has said.

Data shows that blind people have access to only about five percent of all publications globally, and to alleviate this the Marrakesh Treaty was adopted in 2013 to facilitate access to published works by the visually impaired.

Nearly six years later, over 60 countries have ratified the treaty including nine African countries, but South Africa is not among them, noted Christo de Klerk, chairman of the Braille committee at Blind SA.

"Our government’s position on this matter is that the Copyright Amendment Bill first has to be signed before the Marrakesh Treaty can be ratified," De Klerk said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, this has been delayed for years because of a continuous bickering about the bill," he added.

By Ana Reporter, Independent Online, 23 April 2019

Davies and arts & culture minister Nathi Mthethwa recently met various industry stakeholders to hear their concerns about the Copyright Amendment Bill as well as the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill. Parliament recently approved the bills, which are now awaiting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signature before becoming law.

Davies said the bill was not intended to cause harm. On concerns of the fair use clause in the bill, Davies said there are safeguards meant to ensure that the intended use is in fact fair.  He said there are also “technological protection measures” to prevent unauthorised access or use of copyright works. Content that is protected by these measures includes digital music, movies, games and software, said Davies, adding that the Copyright Tribunal will also disputes that may arise.

By Bekezela Phakath, Business Day, 22 April 2019

”Legendary actor Jack Devnarian, stops by to chat to Miller Time about the Copyright Amendment Bill, and Performers Protection Amendment Bill, and how these two items give rights to TV and Film performers here in South Africa.”

By Miller Time Radio, 19 April 2019

The bill introduces several overdue fixes specifically for data, application programming interfaces (APIs), interoperability and anti-circumvention. But like any other law, it cannot predict unimagined technologies. Instead, copyright needs to be flexible to adapt to technological change.

The bill introduces flexibility into SA law through a hybrid fair-use clause. Critics of fair use say they prefer highly specific, detailed exceptions. Detailed exceptions are important, but they can only ever be backward-looking, dealing with current uses of current technologies. Only a general exception clause is future orientated. A general exception clause allows courts to balance innovative uses against the exclusivity given to copyright holders, and so enable continuous adaption.

By Andrew Rens, Business Day, 04 April 2019

South Africa and Singapore appear to be on the forefront of a new wave of explicitly pro-creator copyright reform, often at the expense of publishers and collective management organizations. Understandably for this reason, the South Africa bill has drawn considerable opposition from publishers and collective management organizations.

By Sean Flynn, IP Watch, 21 March 2019

Wikimedia ZA president Douglas Scott said the current law has contributed to the country falling behind on technology.

“Memes are not allowed under the Fair Dealing law. Also, the sharing of pictures of public monuments is most probably illegal, it’s just that it has not been tested in court yet. Wikipedia doesn't accept photos of newly-built monuments because of the current act, only pictures of colonial-era monuments, such as the Rhodes statue, because its copyright licence has expired,” said Scott.

By Zodidi Dano, Cape Argus, 18 March 2019

The core of the criticism being mounted by international publishers and their local affiliates is that South Africa – the most unequal country in the world – should not broaden the education rights for teachers and students to levels enjoyed in the USA, Canada and elsewhere. 

The proposed change is not actually a major alteration of existing law. Since its enactment in the 1970s, South Africa's copyright law has always had strong and broad rights to use copyrighted materials for education and study purposes. In addition to this right of educators, learners have a separate right to make private copies to facilitate their learning.

The bill makes a just and reasonable effort to clarify the degree to which teachers and students can lawfully make copies to facilitate education. The practices permitted by the bill are more restricted than those routinely followed under apartheid. But they are more liberal than are practiced at some universities that license all copying, even the use of quotations of private copies that current law permits. It is important to note that publishers' claim that schools can copy whole works for all their students is wrong. The law specifically provides that course packs or other forms of copying may not "incorporate the whole or substantially the whole of a book or journal issue, or a recording of a work". It authorises copying of full works only if the work is not available in the South African market on reasonable terms and conditions.

By Eve Gray and Desmond Oriakhogba, News24, 18 March 2019

The Select Committee on Trade and International Relations is satisfied with the broad public participation of stakeholders in the drafting of the Copyright Amendment Bill and the Performers Protection Amendment Bill. The Chairperson of the select committee, Mr Eddie Makue, said the process has been ongoing since 2009 and that any claims of insufficient time for inputs is not justified.

By the South African Parliament, 6 March 2019

The 1978 Copyright Act is outmoded and requires updating to be suitable for the digital

environment. The Amendment Bill includes a number of important provisions

which are necessary to update the Copyright Act for technological adaptability

By Dr. Andrew Rens, Internet Governance Lab, American University, Washington DC, 22 February 2019

In December last year, the National Assembly approved redrafted versions of the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill and the Copyright Amendment Bill, that includes stronger protections for copyright holders but also a fair use provision for some users.

In the National Assembly, 197 Members of Parliament voted in favour of the Copyright Amendment Bill with four MP’s reportedly voting against it. There were no abstentions.

By Linda Daniels, Intellectual Property Watch, 14 February 2019