Publishers’ association of south africa

In all cases, consultation took place over an extended period with a wide range of stakeholders, including industry participants and rights users.
There were varying degrees of caution in approaching the demands of digital copyright legislation. Built into all the legislative regimes is a recognition of the need for continual review and updating.
Coupled with the government-driven consultative process, independent negotiations also took place between rights owners and rights users, particularly in the context of higher education needs.
However, while such negotiations might have regulated transactional relationships, legislative reform was government-driven and was linked to clearly identified national policy needs.
Legislative and policy approaches ideally take account of the circumstances of the country concerned: its trading relationships and its distance from international markets.
Policy approaches in these countries also recognise the need to create a climate of respect for intellectual property. In Australia, government and industry contribute to information dissemination and advice.
CONCLUSION
IT IS CLEAR, FROM THE EVALUATION of these international examples, that South Africa needs to address its electronic copyright legislative requirements as a matter of urgency. This is not a matter of a terrain that is marginal to the country’s needs, but is central to many of the country’s critical needs, both for internal cultural and economic development and for the fostering of international trading relationships.
RECOMMENDATIONS

41. 
    While the growth of digital media might at first sight seem to pose a threat to the print industries in South Africa, in fact digital dissemination of content offers great advantages and growth potential to authors and publishers. Media convergence, moreover, means that print industry players are already extensively involved in digital media and it is urgently necessary to address questions of authors’ and publishers’ rights in this new context.
    

42. 
    It is clear that, in comparison with other countries, South Africa has fallen behind badly in addressing legislative issues relating to digital copyright. Nor has there been a consultative process to determine legislative needs, as has been the case in other countries. There is an urgent need to bring South African copyright legislation in line with the WCT, in order to ensure protection for those investing in the development of digital media, and to set up a proper consultative process within the industry sector. This will be a critical issue in the negotiation of international trade treaties.
    

43. 
    It is noted that the basis for a sound regime in digital copyright is to be found in viable legislation for print copyright. Any deficiencies in traditional copyright law are likely to be exaggerated in the electronic domain.
    

44. 
    The print industries are concerned at the lack of national initiatives to set in motion policy and legislative decisions relating to digital copyright in South Africa. It urges the creation of a broadly constituted Working Group on Digital Media that includes all industry stakeholders, including new ventures.
    

45. 
    An informed discussion of legislative issues relating to digital copyright needs to take place as a matter of urgency.
    

46. 
    The print industries sector needs to identify stakeholders within the sector with an interest in digital copyright to set up an industry wide focus group on digital copyright that can interact with stakeholders in other industry sectors.
    

47. 
    The print industries sector argues that the proposals made in submissions by industry members in the context of the Electronic Commerce Act need to be put on the table and addressed in an urgent cross-sectoral review of digital copyright policies in South Africa.
    

CONCLUSION
DURING 2002, A FREELANCE JOURNALIST writing for the Warsaw Business Journal, in interviewing Carlo Scollo Lavizzari, Legal Counsel for the International Publishers’ association, suggested that the copyright system as we know it is wrong. In reply, Mr Scollo Lavizzari said that the alternatives were unattractive since both patronage by a religious or secular aristocracy or state subsidisation came with the risk of influence and censorship. ‘Copyright law cannot create freedom of speech and of the press, but freedom will be diminished unless those who create, produce and disseminate copyright material enjoy financial independence.’
As far as the future of international copyright treaties and national copyright laws are concerned, Mr Scollo Lavizzari considered that the Internet, which links the world and is inherently global, will increasingly lead to international cooperation in the form of voluntary codes of conduct, guidelines and contracts which could supplement national legislation in the future.
This is the path along which the print industries advocates for the legislator to develop the South African copyright environment: promotion of a culture of respect for intellectual property, balanced by public rights to access knowledge and information; and sound protective legislation supplemented by voluntary contractual arrangements.
As we have noted above, some have sought to argue against copyright because the educational and informational needs of a developing country are so different from those of an industrialised nation that public policy should admit, inter alia, broad exceptions to the exclusive right. While it is not within the brief of this report to engage even further in that debate than we have so far, we are constrained to point out that such a viewpoint is not necessarily reflected in the copyright laws of African countries. Kenyan copyright law, for instance, specifies that not more than two short passages may be taken from a work for inclusion in a compilation designed for use in an educational establishment. Zimbabwe has recently drafted a new Copyright Act with minimal exceptions. The following is a statement from Ghana:
There is a need to recognise that modern well-drafted copyright legislation is an indispensable tool in the protection of authors’ rights. Most developing countries fail to see or realise the importance of vibrant intellectual property legislation. The copyright system, as it now exists in virtually every country in the world, is a vital part of modern society’s infrastructure, serving the entire community. It is the foundation on which the world’s publishing industry rests, bringing the written or recorded word, carrying knowledge, ideas, understanding and entertainment to every literate person, young and old, in the community.¹¹¹
In short, the print industries in South Africa believe that South African rights owners deserve the same levels of protection as any other country in the world; and the growth of a local industry is the surest way to provide affordable and relevant cultural and knowledge products to serve the needs of the country.


SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
LEGISLATION AND POLICY DOCUMENTS
South Africa
Copyright Act of 1978, as amended in 2002.

The text of the Act can be found on the CIPRO website: http://www.cipro.co.za/info_library/acts_treaties.asp.

It can also be found, along with other African copyright legislation, on the UNESCO website:

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/file_download.php/47f393caa633c1d051c87045ba9a2d26Copyright_Act_1978.pdf
Promotion of Access to Information Act No. 2 of 2000.

http://www.gov.za/acts/2000/a2-00.pdf
Counterfeit Goods Act No. 37 of 1997.

http://www.gov.za/acts/1997/a37.pdf
Electronic Communications and Transactions Act No. 25 of 2002.

http://www.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a25-02.pdf