The Department of Trade and Industry’s shock proposal to reduce significantly the scope of the Copyright Amendment Bill by limiting the application of its fair use clauses has been shot down by Parliament’s trade and industry portfolio committee, which has decided to rewrite the bill with the aid of a panel of technical experts.
A special committee task team has been established to undertake the revision.
MPs from all parties present at the committee’s meeting late last week expressed frustration and anger at the department’s proposal, which came after 10 days of hearings and the consideration of about 70 submissions on the bill that many believe was poorly drafted and required substantial reworking.
The bill aims to modernise SA’s outdated copyright law to deal with the digital age.
Department of Trade and Industry director-general Lionel October proposed that legislation on copyright be divided into two phases — with the first phase focusing predominantly on the core recommendations of the Farlam commission on copyright and those areas where there was consensus.
The Farlam commission recommendations relate to strengthening the role and governance of collecting societies — their registration, regulation and governance — to ensure that creators received the royalties due to them. "This is the area of greatest need," October stressed and would make the greatest impact on vulnerable groups.
What should also be included in the revised bill, he added, was a minimum prescribed contract for artists to protect vulnerable groups. In addition, as recommended by the commission, the bill should incorporate five international treaties into the law so that local artists could receive royalties from abroad.
Such a phased approach would require that the bill be revised to exclude the introduction of the "fair use" principle adopted from US law. This should be left to the second phase of the legislation October proposed so there could be more consultation.
In the meantime, to address the needs of academic, research and educational institutions the list in the law related to fair dealings should be extended to include them.
The provisions in the bill related to the state owning copyright where its funds were used should be excluded, October said, as well as the clauses providing for the establishment of a tribunal because the department had insufficient funds for the tribunals in existence.
More powers should be given to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission to regulate collecting societies.
October said the phased approach was recommended so at least a bill of limited scope would emerge on the basis of the Farlam recommendations before the end of the current administration in 2019.
"This issue of intellectual property rights is the most complex issue in the global trade debates today.
"Everybody admits it is an area of high complexity especially in the age we are living in of disruptive technology and the fourth industrial revolution," October said.
He said Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies had recommended a step-by-step approach, "because the elephant we are dealing with is so big we are going to have to eat it in manageable chunks". A pragmatic approach was necessary.
But the committee rejected this proposal deciding to proceed with the redrafting of the bill in its entirety.
ANC MP Adrian Williams rejected October’s proposal. "The department doe not seem to know what it is doing."
DA trade and industry spokesman Dean Macpherson said the proposal was "outrageous" and should be dismissed.
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