Copyright in Africa

In most countries, unlike other forms of IP protection provided for by statute, copyright need not be registered. It subsists automatically. There is one exception in South Africa:  the copyright subsisting in cinematograph films, which also vests automatically but can also be registered.)

But despite the fact that there’s no need for registration when it comes to copyright, some countries do allow for voluntary registration. This is intended to solve disputes over ownership or creation, as well as to facilitate financial transactions, sales, and the assignment and/or transfer of rights.

To be eligible for copyright, the subject matter must qualify as one or more of the types of “works” provided for in the relevant copyright legislation. In South Africa, these are:

literary works (for example, novels, poems, tables and manuals);

artistic works (for example, photographs, paintings and drawings);

musical works (for example, music reduced to writing or musical notations preserved in a material form, like a record or a tape);

sound recordings;

cinematograph films;

broadcasts (for example, radio and television);

program-carrying signals (for example, a signal being emitted and passing through a satellite);

published editions (i.e. the first print of a particular typographical arrangement of a literary or musical work); and

computer programs.

As the owner, you enjoy:

economic rights, which allow you to derive financial reward from the use of your copyright by others.  As the author of a copyright work (who is not always the owner), you also enjoy moral rights which protect your non-economic interests, such as the right to claim authorship and object to the distortion of the work.

Most copyright laws state that the owner of copyright has the economic right to authorise or prevent certain uses in relation to a work or, in some cases, to receive remuneration for the use of your work. For example, your economic rights can prohibit or authorise:

reproduction in various forms, such as printed publication or sound recording;

public performance, such as in a play or musical work;

recording;

broadcasting, by radio, cable or satellite;

translation into other languages; and

adaptation, such as a novel into a film screenplay.

The first requirement is that the relevant subject matter constitute a “work” as provided for by the Act.

Second, the work must be original, meaning that it has not been copied from another source. You will have had to invest your own time, money, effort, skill, knowledge and endeavours in creating the work.

Third, the work must be in a material form; i.e. a physical or tangible product must exist. It cannot be a thought or idea; it must have been created and then “fixed”: by being written down, recorded, filmed or captured electronically.

Finally, you must be a “qualified person”; that is, an individual who is a South African citizen or is domiciled or resident in South Africa. In the case of a juristic person, a qualified person is one with a registered place of business in South Africa or a country that is a member of the Berne Convention.

Not anymore. The symbol © is an indication that copyright has been claimed. In the past, some countries had legislation in place that required you to include it but today, very few countries – including ours – include the use of such symbols as a legal requirement.

If you are interested in exploring a copyright matter, please contact us for more information.