The Use Fair
We have all been to fun fairs. A fun fair is a facility set up in a vacant space, usually of temporary duration, devoted to providing entertainment to those who frequent it. There are ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, helter skelters, tunnels of horrors, dodgem cars, roller coasters and the like. There are also stalls of one form or another where prizes can be won, such as coconut shies where wooden balls are thrown at coconuts, or other targets like effigies of people, with a view to knocking them off their pedestals. Handouts of free gifts are plentiful. ‘Roll up here; all the fun of the...
Read MoreCopyright Dark Forces
Copyright is a system which grants creatives (i.e. writers, artists, composers, film makers, record producers and the like) certain exclusive rights to their works which enable those works to be commercially exploited for financial reward. Creatives are thus empowered to make a living out of their works, which in turn is an incentive to make more and better works. In general, the modus operandi is for copyright owners to grant licences for the use of their works, subject to the payment of royalties. They have complete freedom and flexibility regarding the nature and content of the...
Read MoreReconstituting the Copyright Amendment Bill
Every golfer has had the experience of duffing a shot – driving the ball straight into a water hazard – and, having incurred a penalty stroke, hitting a perfect drive straight down the middle of the fairway at the second attempt. This has given rise to the golfing adage: Confucius say hit second shot first! In similar vein, Parliament has produced a horrendous piece of copyright legislation, but has now been given a second chance to get it right, without incurring any penalty. Will it take up and optimize this break, that is the question? Time will tell. THE ESSENCE OF COPYRIGHT Copyright...
Read MoreCopyright Blind Spot
INTRODUCTION Blind people are at a distinct disadvantage and face serious challenges when it comes to reading the written word. They need written text to be rendered in braille or in electronic form to permit a text-to-speech functionality with easy navigation across the text. Unfortunately, such adapted-for-disability-utility versions of written text are in short supply or are not always optimally operational. The international community, and more particularly the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has embraced this plight of the blind. WIPO has fathered the Marrakesh Treaty to...
Read MoreCopyleft Amendments to Copyright
So called “state capture” is a concept which currently dominates current public discourse. It represents the usurpation and domination of the powers of the state by the Zuma/Gupta alliance. State capture, albeit in a different form, has occurred in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in regard to its custodianship of intellectual property. Beginning in the late nineteen nineties, with the advent to power in Trade and Industry of Minster Alex Erwin, a “third force” has assumed control of this important area of the law with untoward consequences to its well-being. The third force...
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