infoJustice

Executive Summary: South Africans should be able to make fair use of copyright materials. Fair use is important for technological innovation, reverse engineering, education and access to knowledge. Contracts and anti-circumvention rules should not be allowed to prevent South Africans from making fair use of copyright materials. South Africans should be able to bulk import copyright works including textbooks legitimately purchased outside South Africa.

Contacts:|

• Emilar Vushe, APC Africa Policy Coordinator
• Andrew Rens, APC Researcher on copyright
• Anriette Esterhuysen, APC Executive Director

The Association for Progressive Communications

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network and non-profit organisation founded in 1990 that wants everyone to have access to a free and open internet to improve lives and create a more just world. APC helps people use the internet to develop their communities and further their rights, and works to make sure that government policies related to information and communication serve the best interests of the general population, especially people living in developing countries.

APC, through is network of 50 member organisations around the world,, is able to build the capacity of civil society actors involved at national level to engage at global level, and vice versa, by supporting the participation of groups of people from civil society in global forums through creating spaces for learning and strategising. APC is uniquely placed to connect the strands of internet governance and human rights, particularly through national, regional and global mechanisms. Connecting the accountability of governments, and other stakeholders, across both human rights and issues of governance such as IP policy, is a key strategy for improving rights-affirming public policy.

Recommendations

1. That the 1978 Copyright Act be amended to insert a provision closely resembling the United States fair use provision. This provision would operate in addition to the existing exceptions and other exceptions introduced in the amendment process.
2. That the 1978 Copyright Act be amended to insert a provision that explicitly prevents contractual terms from nullifying statutory user rights in copyright (exceptions and limitations) such as fair use. The provision should render contractual provisions that purport to nullify or exclude the operation of exceptions and limitations unenforceable.
3. That the 1978 Copyright Act be amended to insert a provision that explicitly authorises circumvention of technical measures that prevent the use of exceptions and limitations in the Copyright Act.
4. That the 1978 Copyright Act be amended to allow anyone to import into South Africa copyright works such as textbooks that are lawfully made in another country.

Click here for the full APC Recommendations (PDF).