Why does South Africa need a review of the current Copyright Act? May 28. 2010 | Comments (0)
Our local Copyright Act was enacted 32 years ago, in 1978. Most people recognise that it would have been impossible, 32 years ago, to envision a world where technology has become a key instrument in social and economic development. The way we use, find and create information today has changed due to the technological advances that have been made. If we recognise this fact, then it is clear that the terms and clauses within the Copyright Act of 1978 need to be reviewed and updated. An important point to note here is that our understanding of what copyright is has been largely framed by multinational corporations from within the culture industries. These corporations' business models rely on ensuring that copy rights remain broad (thus restricting uses by non copyright holders) in order to maximise their dominance of international markets, and to maintain their profits. Thus, copyright has become about big business. People who infringe...