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 […]
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
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 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 […]
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! […]
INTRODUCTION The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives the following as a meaning of the word “friend”: “A person who wishes another, a cause etc., well; a sympathizer, helper, patron…” Carole King, the famous songwriter/performer, gives a good description of the characteristics of a friend in her iconic song, You’ve Got a Friend. The drafters […]
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 […]
Introduction The South African Constitutional Court has ruled that the term “property” in the Section 25 of the Constitution covers not only land but also all forms of property including intellectual property (i.e. patents, designs, copyright trade marks and the like). In the event that, as proposed, this section is amended to allow property to […]
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 […]
INTRODUCTION “Plagiarism” is a much misunderstood and misused term in common parlance. In layman’s terms, it is generally used to convey the notion of copying or reproducing the work of another in a clandestine manner. Although it is not specifically mentioned or perhaps even considered as an element, by implication it entails such misuse being […]
