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 artists and creators and the proper balancing of interests by way of fair dealing and/or fair use. The workshop yielded valuable insights from the assembled audience and the input from the panel was well received.

It is hoped that when the Bill is discussed in Parliament soon, the ANC will rely on the public commentary, including the outcomes of the workshop.

A video recording of the full proceedings, which was broadcast live on SABC news, is available here (starts at 1:27).