Stakeholders Submit Views On South Africa Copyright Amendment - Intellectual Property Watch

"The call for public comments on the Copyright Amendment Bill by South Africa’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry attracted a wide range of interest and contributions from local and international IP stakeholders. South Africa’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry published select clauses of the Copyright Amendment Bill for public comment. The notice can be seen here [pdf]. The deadline for the public submissions period was 9 July, but due to a high number of requests, the window was extended to 18 July. Public submissions were varied and came from academia, the creative arts sector and a global expert network, among others. The submissions are not public, but some contributors to the process shared their written submissions with Intellectual Property Watch. Many commended the committee on agreeing to process one holistic bill, not a two-phased bill, and for recognising fair use provisions in the bill, including exceptions for education, research, libraries, archives, museums, galleries, and persons with disabilities. Universities South Africa (USAf), the national representative body for 26 public universities in South Africa, especially supported the recognition of fair use in the Copyright Amendment Bill. “This is in line with and confirms South Africa’s support for similar limitations and exceptions in treaty proposals by the African Group at WIPO [the UN World Intellectual Property Organization] and the Marrakesh Treaty [on global book access for blind readers], which South Africa has committed to ratify once the Copyright Amendment Bill has been enacted. These provisions also support many Government policies and projects and in particular those of the Department of Higher Education and Training, and Department of Science and Technology, e.g., Open Educational Resources, Open Access, Open Data and Open Science initiatives.” USAf’s submission continues in part: “USAf wishes to bring your attention to the fact that the exceptions for computer programs which were in the original 2017 Bill (section 19B) have been omitted in toto from the Draft No.2 Bill. USAf recommends that they are re-inserted into the Bill.” USAf’s full submission can be read here [pdf]...."