Publishers’ association of south africa

CONCLUSION

This Report’s primary concern is the development of the writing and publishing industries and its main objective is to map the copyright landscape in order to assess how South Africa rates in regard to the level of copyright protection accorded those industries and, more importantly, what strategy and policy initiatives and actions are needed to create an environment in which writing and publishing can grow to incorporate and reach the wider community in South Africa.
The achievement of economic growth in the copyright industries, leading to greater opportunities for all the stakeholders in the sector, including authors and other creative owners, is at the heart of the industry sector’s strategy for an effective copyright regime in South Africa.



2COPYRIGHT INDUSTRIES

AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF THE PRINT AND PUBLISHING INDUSTRIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
ALTHOUGH THE PRINT AND PUBLISHING INDUSTRIES in South Africa are relatively small by international standards, they are by far the largest publishing sector in Africa and are unusual in sub-Saharan Africa in being a viable and self-sustaining sector, publishing fiction and non-fiction, school textbooks and resource material, academic and scholarly works and professional publications.
To evaluate the impact that a strong copyright regime could have in fostering economic growth in the sector, one has to look first at the current state of the sector; attitudes to copyright observance; and levels of infringement.
Statistics for the sector are unreliable as a result of reluctance on the part of companies to release what they fear will be sensitive competitive information. However, a recently commissioned project should see the publication of a more reliable statistical database from 2004 onwards.²¹
The book publishing industry is estimated to turn over around R2,5 to R3 billion per year, of which around R1,8 billion comes from local publishing. The industry employs around 3 000 permanent employees, a well as supporting a network of small companies and freelance workers – editors, designers, typesetters, illustrators and photographers. Numerically, it is estimated that these make up at least a further 3 000 workers.
By far the biggest sector in the book publishing industry is publishing for schools. This sector, which is dependent upon government purchases, is currently estimated to be worth around R1.5 billion a year, most of this generated by sales of locally produced products.
Given the substantial numbers of books sold into schools, some authors of learning materials for schools can live off their earnings as writers. The progressive introduction of the new curriculum means that there is continuous and substantial work for schoolbook authors of all kinds. Translators, specialist editors and illustrators are also much in demand. This boom period will, however, end once the OBE curriculum has been introduced into all school grades.