Click here for the full comment (PDF)
Excerpt: Our Federation welcomes Government’s initiative to review and modernize the legal framework for copyright in South Africa and implement the provisions of the WIPO Internet Treaties. We collectively believe in the need to make the Copyright Act fit for purpose in the digital age, so that local creators and producers of content may continue to see their works protected effectively whilst taking full advantage of the emergent new digital business models for content production and distribution.
SASFED encourages the amendments to the Copyright Act so protect all stakeholders in the value from the Producers, Actors, Agents, Post Production, Crew and Writers. Copyright and related rights are a powerful incentive for our industry to take the considerable creative and financial risks associated with new originated content able to respond to South African citizen’s demand for a culturally diverse offer of film and TV. Our industry is a beacon of innovation and makes an increasingly strategic contribution to GDP and job creation….
…SASFED is therefore concerned that a number of articles in the Bill as currently drafted may go against these valuable strategic objectives and effectively weaken incentives for the independent audiovisual sector to create, produce and distribute local original content for South African and global audiences.
