Publishers’ association of south africa

Magistrates tend to know very little about Intellectual Property Rights and in general, there is a lcak of appreciation of the importance of effective IPR enforcement.
In the last few years, responsibility for IP policing has been transferred from the Narcotics Branch of the police to the Commercial Branch. This is perceived by the print industries sector as an improvement and a more appropriate way of dealing with IP crimes. However, it is taking time for the necessary structures to be put in place countrywide and for awareness and knowledge about copyright crime to be instilled in policemen and women who are new to this branch of policing.
Enforcement Measures
Copyright Education in Australia
The Australian report on copyright enforcement (see p. XXX, above) stresses the fact that ‘the difficulty in enforcing copyright lies in the community’s attitude towards, and in some cases ignorance about, copyright’. The report goes on to identify education as an important strategy in combating infringement. Public awareness campaigns are therefore needed to back up legal remedies to copyright infringement. In Australia, organisations representing copyright owners conduct education programmes, including training programmes for members of these organisations and for law enforcement agencies.
The finding of the Australian copyright enforcement report was that such education and awareness campaigns should be the joint responsibility of government and organisations representing copyright owners. The report stresses that creators and intellectual property industries are themselves often unaware of how copyright protects their works and that it is therefore necessary to convey to the business sector the value of copyright protection. Education for the copyright industries, and particularly for small and medium businesses, is identified in the report as of primary importance.
At the same time, the judiciary often awards minimal damages in copyright cases, reflecting a lack of understanding of the importance of intellectual property, and police departments tend to regard copyright matters as a commercial matter that should be handled by rights owners. The Australian report identifies the need for educational programmes and attitudinal change in the criminal justice system and likens the current situation to the disavowal of responsibility for domestic violence that used to characterise legal systems.⁶⁹
Copyright Education in South Africa
The needed for copyright education in the community and in copyright industries in South Africa has already been identified as being of primary importance. South Africa has fallen substantially behind a country like Australia in this regard and could learn from the collaboration between Australian rights holders and government in ensuring high levels of copyright awareness and knowledge. South Africa could do worse than emulate the Australian Copyright Council’s active involvement in producing web- and print-based information on copyright, advisory services for rights owners and rights users, and position papers for government on legislative reform.
Collective Licensing