Defects in Copyright Amendments Exposed
STATUS OF THE COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL For literally years, informed commentators on copyright law have been telling the Government that the Copyright Amendment Bill is fundamentally flawed, badly drafted and misguided in many respects. Alas, none so blind as those who will not see and none so deaf as those who will not hear! The […]
IP Public Lecture 2022 – Influence or Infringement in Music
THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED Watch the video of the lecture below. The 2022 annual intellectual property law public lecture, presented by the Anton Mostert Chair of Intellectual Property Law at the Faculty of Law, will address influence or infringement in music. The lecture will be delivered by Owen Salmon SC from the Johannesburg Bar, […]
CIP written submissions on additional definitions and clauses in the Copyright Amendment Bill 2017
Following its comprehensive review and comments submitted on the various versions of the Copyright Amendment Bill (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021), the Chair of IP law has again submitted comments specifically pertaining to additional definitions and clauses in the Amendment Bill. The full text of the Chair’s comments is available for download here. Download comments
IP Public Lecture 2021 – IP Law in the Light of the Information Society
THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED Watch the video of the lecture below. The 2021 annual intellectual property law public lecture, presented by the Anton Mostert Chair of Intellectual Property Law at the Faculty of Law, will address IP law in the light of the information society. The lecture will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Thomas […]
Amending Copyright – Footing the Bill
The Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed by Parliament despite widespread criticism and condemnation by informed commentators. The CAB was rejected by President Ramaphosa and referred back to Parliament with the direction that it be reviewed and amended where necessary. His objections were mainly centered around the problem that it contained provisions that are in […]
CIP written submissions on copyright exceptions in the Copyright Amendment Bill 2017
Following its comprehensive review and comments submitted on the 2015, 2017 and 2018 versions of the Copyright Amendment Bill, the Chair of IP law has again submitted comments specifically pertaining to the copyright exceptions in the Amendment Bill. The full text of the Chair’s comments is available for download here. Download comments
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 […]
Copyright 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 […]
Reconstituting 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 says hit second shot first! […]