The proposed draft Copyright Amendment Bill was met with criticism during public hearings on Tuesday, with the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) proposing a task team be established to deal with all the comments and questionable provisions.
The Publishers Association of SA also warned of dire consequences should the bill be enacted in its present form, saying that 89% of publishers surveyed said it would have a negative effect on their operations.
One of the contentious proposals was the blanket override of contractual terms, it said.
The Copyright Alliance, which represents stakeholders in the music and literary rights industries, said there was a disconnect between the stated intention of the bill to tackle the plight of musicians and performers — many of whom died in poverty — and what the bill actually delivered.
The bill failed in its promise by introducing provisions from foreign and international jurisdictions without fully assessing the effect on local copyright industries; introducing measures that took away existing rights of rights holders; and introducing limitations and exceptions without considering the effect this would have on the welfare of rights holders.
Speaking on behalf of the SAIIPL, attorney Esme du Plessis said the bill did not take into account fundamental principles and guidelines that should be the foundation of good law.
There were so many errors and shortcomings that the institute proposed the portfolio committee on trade and industry establish a task team of experts to process the comments.
"Such a task team should also consider convening an inclusive consultative workshop for stakeholders to debate the issues and seek acceptable solutions," Du Plessis said.
The bill introduces a new right, a "user royalty right" which Du Plessis believed was "highly questionable". The provisions related to this new right did not make sense, she said.
Another new right was the "resale royalty right", which was meant to allow emerging creative artists to benefit from the sale of their work.
However, Du Plessis said many of the provisions did not make sense.
There was a general consensus that SA had good copyright legislation but it needed to be updated to take account of technological developments.
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