ABOUT THE RESOURCE

In a letter to Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, EIFL has urged the President to sign into law the new Copyright Amendment Bill [B13F - 2017] without further delay. The Bill, amending the 1978 Copyright Act, was approved by both Houses of Parliament in February 2024, and sent to the President for assent. 

The Bill introduces new exceptions for libraries, education and people with disabilities, and it brings copyright rules in South Africa into the digital age. It also strengthens the rights of individual creators to ownership and management of their works, addresses transparency in the collective management of rights and the distribution of royalty payments to artists.

With a general election taking place in South Africa in May 2024, the clock is ticking for the process to be completed before the elections.

In November 2019, EIFL wrote to President Ramaphosa requesting that he sign the Copyright Amendment Bill into law, version [B13B - 2017], into law. In June 2020, the President decided not to sign the Bill, citing reservations about the constitutionality of some of the provisions. Parliament duly addressed the concerns and prepared a new version that is currently before the President for signature.