South African Copyright Saga Continues

In mid-October 2024, the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB) and the Performers' Protection Amendment Bill (PPAB) were referred to the Constitutional Court for a ruling on their constitutionality by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The decision by President Ramaphosa marks the latest twist in the long-standing discussions over the bills.

The reasons leading to the President's previous referral of the Bill back to the National Assembly in 2020 included copyright exceptions that "may constitute arbitrary deprivation of property; may violate the right to freedom of trade, occupation and profession, and may be in conflict with" international treaties to which South Africa is a contracting party or a signatory. A long process followed the President's decision, but the defective provisions have remained unaddressed, despite semantic non-substantive changes. Writers and the whole publishing and book industry stand united against an ill-constructed Bill that jeopardizes South Africa's literary diversity and educational content production.

In a joint statement issued by IPA, STM, IFRRO and IAF in March 2024, the organisations stated: This Bill has been opposed consistently by national and international voices from the book sector, in defense of South African literary and educational communities. We are deeply disappointed by the possibility of seeing irreversible damage happen, not only to our communities, but also to the South African creative economy. Degrading copyright protection in these terms will cause irreparable losses on employment, investment capacity and tax payments, in addition to compromising compliance with international law.
We call on President Ramaphosa to not give assent to the Bill and instead be the voice of reason to defend laws that respect the South African Constitution and the international treaties that South Africa has committed to respect.

See IPA's previous articles on this topic here and at the following articles.

• South Africa: IAF, IFRRO, IPA and STM urge President Ramaphosa to withhold signing Copyright Amendment Bill
• South Africa: IAF, IFRRO, IPA and STM urge policy makers to vote against Copyright Amendment Bill
• New book casts critical eye on South African copyright reform
• South African Copyright Reform Rumbles On
• South African Court boosts disabled access to published works
• South Africa - Defective Copyright and Performers Protection Act Amendment Bills still hang in the balance
• Defective South African Copyright Bill set for more detailed review