Copyright & Copyright Law in South Africa
What is a Copyright?
Copyright are exclusive rights granted to the creator or author of their original work for a limited period of time. Copyright offer public disclosure of the work which includes the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work.
Copyright arises upon publication and does not need to be registered. The copyright owner has exclusive statutory rights to exercise control over the copying and exploitation of their works.
Copyright lasts for a specific period of time, after which the work will enter the public domain. Uses covered under limitations and exceptions to copyright do not require permission from the copyright owner.
Copyright owners can license or assign their exclusive rights to others.
The Copyright Limitations
The length of a copyright term can depend on several factors, including the type of work, whether the work has been published or not, and whether the work was created by an individual or a corporation.
The default length of copyright is the life of the author plus either 50. If the work was created by a corporation the copyright persists for 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever is shorter.
Copyright Categories
Copyright initially only covered books but the law was revised in the 19th century. Now, all types of work that are subject to copyright include:
- Artistic works
- paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings & photographs
- works of architecture (buildings or models of buildings)
- works of craftsmanship
- Broadcasts
- Literary works
- novels, stories & poems
- dramatic works, stage directions, cinematograph film scenarios & broadcasting scripts
- textbooks, treatises, histories, biographies, essays and articles
- encyclopaedias & dictionaries
- letters, reports & memoranda
- lectures, speeches & sermons
- tables and compilations of data stored or embodied in a computer or a medium used in conjunction with a computer (does not include a computer program)
- Cinematograph films
- Computer programs
- Musical works
- Programme-carrying signals
- Published editions
- Sound recordings
The Copyright Act
The Copyright Act 98 of 1978 is currently in affect in South Africa.
The Copyright Act regulates copyright and provide for matters incidental thereto.
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