Full Stop Ahead: Public interest in blocking digital content
It makes for the perfect ideological storm when IP law and ICT law meet and the right to freedom of expression stands in the way. Capitalist and socialist, activist and pacifist, pragmatist and idealist: differing legal experts abound in the battle for, or against, IP rights in the digital environment. Two recent developments which illustrate this tension, might serve South Africans well, if observed with care. First, the recent ruling of the General Court of the European Union in Constantin Film Produktion GmbH v EUIPO[i] made it clear that aural vulgarity could be a bar to the registration...
Read MoreCopyright in taste? CJEU to decide.
“Whether copyright protection protects tastes has been stirring up emotions in European legal circles for some time. Some say that such protection would be contrary to the idea-expression dichotomy, the notion that ideas and principles underlying any element of a work can never be protected. Others argue protecting taste would negatively affect free competition, among other things. Allowing taste copyright would lead to creative stagnation because when chefs invent new dishes and thus tastes, they always build on already existing dishes.” So writes Prof Charles Gielen, Research...
Read MoreANC Legal Research Group on Copyright Amendment Bill
The legal research group of the African National Congress held a workshop in Sandton on 14 October 2017 to discuss the Copyright Amendment Bill 2017 with input from a panel of experts and questions from the attendees. The panel included the current Chair of Intellectual Property Law at Stellenbosch University, Prof Sadulla Karjiker, and the founding Chair and current Fellow of IP Law at Stellenbosch University, Prof Owen Dean. A detailed, diverse and open discussion followed the panel presentations on inter alia the application of copyright law in the African context, the protection of...
Read MoreFreedom to innovate – did Government get the message?
On 27 April, Freedom Day, we will pause to mark the most significant moment in South African history and commemorate the day when freedom, above all else, became the nation’s guiding principle. The day before, World IP Day, we celebrate the achievements of our brethren that influence our every-day lives and the ability of free human intellectual endeavour to improve our lives. In recent years, Freedom Day celebrations have been reduced to the favourite grandstanding occasion for politicians. While celebrating, many public figures will repeat the customary refrain of this day – remark...
Read MorePerformers’ Protection Amendment Bill Commentary
Prof Karjiker’s comments on the draft the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill [B24-2016] (the “Amendment Bill”), are submitted to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry (the “Portfolio Committee”) pursuant to the invitation of the Portfolio Committee. These comments will focus on the interaction between the Performer’s Protection Act 11 of 1967 (the “Principal Act”) and the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 (the “Copyright Act”). However, the comments also raise matters of concern present in the Amendment Bill. The full text of the comments appear below, and may...
Read More
