This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'EEAS letter to the Office of the South African President on the South African Draft Copyright Bill'.


Ares(2020)2829764
Ref. Ares(2020)3170450 - 18/06/2020
From:
Art. 4(1)(b)
 (TRADE)
To:
Art. 4(1)(b)
 (CNECT);  Art. 4(1)(b)
(CNECT);  Art. 4(1)(b)  (CNECT);
Art. 4(1)(b)
 (CNECT);  Art. 4(1)(b)
 (CNECT)
Cc:
Art. 4(1)(b)  (TRADE)
Subject:
South Africa - Copyright Amendment Bill
Date:
vendredi 15 février 2019 11:32:29
Attachments:
Amadment bill performers protection 5 12 2018.pdf
Amendment copyright-amendment-bill-5 12 2018.pdf
Copyright Act.pdf
150916 COMMENTS FROM THE EC ON THE COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL OF THE DTi.docx.pdf
IFPI.pdf
Dear friends, dear colleagues
As you may remember, we informed you in our organisation of work on
international files with you about the need for a legal analysis of the copyright
reform in South Africa.
A notice of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Select Committee’s call for
comments has just been posted: https://www.parliament.gov.za/committee-notice-
details/115.
As feared and as expected, the deadline date is 22 February 2019, 7 days from now.
Please find attached the two draft bills to be assessed and the current © Act:
You will remember that we had already intervened in 2016 at an earlier stage, see
attached.
Furthermore, an element of context is also extremely important, unrelated to this
process is that there is now a broader circle of SA Government departments that
will have a direct interest in these draft Bills following the Cabinet decision to
accede to the international treaties, WCT, WPPT and Beijing. The record of the
Cabinet decision on 5 December 2018 for SA to accede to WCT, WPPT and
Beijing is at https://www.gcis.gov.za/newsroom/media-releases/statement-
cabinet-meeting-5-december-2018
(paras 16-18).
We work also on our side but we have to identify the most relevant concerns and
we need your expertise, e.g. ‘Fair use’, new copyright exceptions, coupled with
contract override and compliance with Berne, TRIPs, WCT, WPPT and the Beijing
Treaty; exception for persons with a disability and compliance with the Marrakesh
Treaty; unwaivable right of authors and performers to a royalty, coupled with
contract override; distributions by collecting societies to foreign rightsholders and

meeting compliance with Berne, TRIPs, WCT, WPPT and the Beijing Treaty; do
the new copyright exceptions amount to expropriation of property?; retrospective
effect of certain provisions relating to the unwaivable rights by authors to a royalty
and the 25-year limit on assignments of copyright already made; exhaustion of
rights, permitting parallel importation and reducing the scope of secondary
infringement by certain forms of distribution…
……..and maybe other important issues that I’m missing now….
As regards both draft bills we have received the attached brief from IFPI
Thanks a lot for your cooperation. Tell me who will be in charge of this file in your
Unit
I’m of course available for more info.
Amitiés
Art. 4(1)(b)