Posts Tagged "traditional knowledge"

Beating About The Rooibos

Posted on Feb 11, 2013

Beating About The Rooibos

It is a fact of life that attempts have been made in certain other countries to usurp control of the term or mark ROOIBOS, despite the fact that it is a well-known South African description for a particular plant which gives rise to ROOIBOS tea.  The term ROOIBOS is as typically South African as “braaivleis” and “biltong”.  It is really part of our South African heritage.  The South African authorities have nonetheless taken no concrete or effective steps to protect and control the use of this term in South Africa or elsewhere. Probably the first attempt to hijack ROOIBOS in...

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Braking With Tradition

Posted on Nov 30, 2012

Braking With Tradition

INTRODUCTION As will be apparent from perusing the articles posted on this blog indicated by the keywords “traditional knowledge”,  The Vine Oracle has been forthright in its criticism and condemnation of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill which seeks to introduce a special form of protection for so-called “traditional knowledge” into each of the Trade Marks, Copyright, Designs and Performance Protection Acts (the Bill is commonly known as the “Traditional Knowledge Bill”).  The Vine Oracle has been the proponent of the viewpoint...

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A New Tradition In Legislation

Posted on Sep 28, 2012

A New Tradition In Legislation

The South African government has created a new tradition in drafting and processing legislation through Parliament.  This tradition manifests itself in the drafting of half-baked legislation with little or no regard to the provisions of the Constitution and then fighting a huge public outcry against the legislation on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. In some instances the government  then concedes that aspects of the legislation are unconstitutional and it seeks to undertake the revision of that legislation on the floor of Parliament in an attempt to circumvent the claims of...

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From the horse’s MOUTH? – Government’s views on the National Anthem

Posted on Jul 2, 2012

From the horse’s MOUTH? – Government’s views on the National Anthem

Government, and more particularly the Departments of Trade and Industry and Arts and Culture, entered into the current controversy around the ownership of the copyright in the National Anthem by issuing a media release on 18 June 2012. With respect, its contribution to the debate evidences the same lack of knowledge and insight into Copyright Law that is apparent in its ill-conceived and executed Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill (the infamous so-called “Traditional Knowledge Bill”) In regard to the ownership and duration of the component parts of the current National Anthem,...

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The Pot Of Gold At The Beginning Of The Rainbow

Posted on May 23, 2012

The Pot Of Gold At The Beginning Of The Rainbow

The Iziko South African Art Gallery is currently featuring an expedition entitled “A Centenary Celebration of the life and work of Barbara Tyrrell”.  Barbara Tyrrell is a South African artist and author and the exhibition comprises a selection of over 150 of her highly decorative and accurate visual reproductions of Southern African tradition costumes and tribal dress, as well as items of adornment.   The various subject matters comprise traditional South African art works and are themselves copyright artistic works. During the 1950’s and 1960’s Barbara Tyrrell undertook a journey...

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