Copyright Amendment Bill: SA must assure WTO of its commitment to protecting Intellectual Property
6 February 2020
[Note to Editors: The Copyright Coalition of SA comprises of: Academic and Non-Fiction Authors of South Africa (ANFASA), Animation SA, Audio Militia, Dramatic, Artistic, Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO), the Independent Black Filmmakers Collective (IBFC), the Musicians Association of SA (MASA), the Music Publishers Association of South Africa (MPASA), the Publishers Association of South Africa (PASA), Printing SA (PIFSA), Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), RiSA Audio Visual (RAV), Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), Trade Union of Musicians of South Africa (TUMSA), the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) and the Writers Guild of SA,]
On Thursday and Friday this week, the South African government will be at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva discussing the topic Intellectual Property and the Public Interest. This is a unique opportunity for the Department of Trade and Industry to reaffirm its commitment to the international intellectual property framework.
We, as the Copyright Coalition of South Africa, call on our government to make a clear and unequivocal statement at the WTO that intellectual property rights will be protected in South Africa, and that we will continue to abide by the international treaties we have signed to this effect.
We further call on our government to concede that the Copyright Amendment Bill in its current form is a negation of intellectual property rights, a contravention of international agreements and will be damaging to economic growth and jobs in South Africa.
The discussion takes place in the context of the WTO’s members’ commitments under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). This discussion will once more put the global spotlight on South Africa’s disastrous Copyright Amendment Bill.
The TRIPS Council discussion will focus on the well-established test for exceptions to copyright protection. This is an important discussion at this time as the single greatest flaw of the Copyright Amendment Bill is its excessive exceptions permitting uses of copyright works without permission and without compensation, even in cases not permitted by the laws of other TRIPS member countries, and without the motivation of any underlying research-based policy.
This discussion comes at a point in time where South Africa’s commitments are coming under scrutiny internationally because of the Bill. Just last week, the Office of the United States Trade Representative held public hearings in response to a complaint by the International Intellectual Property Association that the Bill will diminish intellectual property protection in such a way so as to disentitle South Africa for eligibility under the U.S. System of Generalised Preferences, placing R34 billion in export revenue at risk.
The Copyright Coalition of South Africa has called on President Ramaphosa not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill into law because of its serious constitutional flaws, both substantive and procedural. The consequences of pushing ahead with the Bill amount both to pursuing an object in a way that is unconstitutional and self-inflicted damage in South Africa’s trade relations with its fellow TRIPS member states.
President Ramaphosa’s only option is to send the Bill back to Parliament for the substantial constitutional flaws that permeate the entire Bill. The continued delay simply increases the uncertainty faced by the creative industries that rely on copyright. Sending the Bill back to Parliament would facilitate proper research and impact assessment of the wide range of topics that need to be covered and create a new opportunity to find solutions developed with stakeholders in the local industry in a way that does not risk our relationships with our international trading partners.
The Copyright Coalition of South Africa therefore again calls on President Ramaphosa to refer the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament at the earliest opportunity and thereby uphold the rights of South Africa’s creators under the Constitution and remove this unnecessary risk to South Africa’s global trade relations.
Issued by Collen Dlamini, Spokesperson, Copyright Coalition of SA, 6 February 2020
