LETTER: Let’s have a chorus against ruinous copyright bill

The SA creative industry faces a bleak future as the Copyright Amendment Bill is likely to be passed now that the National Assembly has referred the bill to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

The National Assembly sent the bill to President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign into law a few years ago, but he refrained from doing so, citing a number of issues, including the fact that the bill had not been sent to the NCOP. The president also questioned the constitutionality of some components of the bill, including exceptions like fair use and user rights.

Ramaphosa sent the bill back to the National Assembly for review and correction of these concerns. However, only cosmetic changes were made to the bill, which has now been sent to the NCOP. The next step is for the bill to be sent back to the president to be signed into law.

Though no meaningful changes have been made to the bill, the president may just sign it — especially given what is happening around Phala Phala and with elections coming up. He is in a weak position, possibly too weak to stand against those who want it passed as he fights for his own survival.

If the Copyright Amendment Bill is signed into law, it will be a win for big tech companies and a loss to South Africans, particularly book sector professionals. The NCOP may decide to consult the public or to just vote for the bill. Whether it consults or not usually does not matter because, like the National Assembly, it is usually just an academic exercise. They only listen to big tech and their proxies.

My plea to the NCOP is that it go to local publishers, authors and academics to explain what the bill will do for the country — how self-published writers and those who have invested their pension money into book production will be affected by this bill.

I accept that the NCOP does not have time or resources to go to individual small local publishers in places such as Mbombela, Polokwane or Bloemfontein, but we have author associations, for example. Invite them, tell them what this bill will do to their livelihoods, and see if they smile.

There are associations like Moaba Sesetho, the National Writers Association of SA, the Writers Guild of SA, Usiba Writers Guild, and various other provincial representatives who could be engaged by the NCOP if it wants an honest view.

At national level, there are many organisations under the Copyright Coalition of SA umbrella that have made numerous presentations, but the National Assembly chose to accept the views of people who do not own copyrights.

I urge all community-based creative professionals to look out for the NCOP’s consultation call and to voice their opinions on the Copyright Amendment Bill. The bill gives users a right to copy your work without paying for it if they can prove it is for educational purposes.

Your book could be read on Google, Facebook, Telegram, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter for free if they decide it’s for education. The onus will be on owners of the content to challenge these companies in court if they disagree. Courts are expensive — how many authors will have the cash to fight big tech to prove they have copied content illegally?

The only fair outcome is for legislators to do a socioeconomic impact study before redrafting the bill so it will benefit all South Africans and not just big tech companies.

Rhulani Bila 
Via email

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