Copyright Amendment Bill

The Copyright Amendment Bill is currently on a rapid path to the President’s desk for signature. If enacted, the bill will have far-reaching consequences for our industry. From the outset, the bill’s conception and drafting has been too heavily influenced by global tech companies who do not represent the best interests of South African music publishers – big and small, or composers.
 

MPA SA is against the Bill passing for several reasons including but not limited to:

Lack of a proper Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Study:

The bill has travelled this far without data showing how it will actually affect music publishers and composers, or indeed the music industry as a whole.
 

Reduced commercial opportunities for composers:

The inclusion of a 25-year limit on copyright assignment means that South African composers will lose out when it comes to opportunities for music in film, SVOD and TV.
 

Inclusion of Fair Use:

Fair Use makes it easier to use music without a licence. Under this predominantly American regime, greater protections are afforded to the users of music. This means that composers, authors and music publishers, will now have to suffer great expense and inconvenience in taking the likes of Big Tech companies to court to discharge a burden of proof that should not have been placed on them in the first place. It is extremely unlikely that such copyright owners will be able to compete with the legal resources of the large, deep-pocketed digital service providers.

Lack of proper consultation with stakeholders: Our continuous efforts in the form of numerous submissions to provide feedback and concerns on the bill from 2018 to 2023 have been disregarded, while arguments from the ‘pro-bill’ lobbyists, who have positioned themselves as champions of exploited artists have been used as de facto consultants throughout the passage of the bill. The MPA SA believes that the consultation processes followed not only in the early days but also in the more recent passage of the bill through the NCOP is severely flawed. This is one of the reasons that the bill has been returned to parliament by the presidency in the past, but these concerns have not been sufficiently addressed and corrected.

 
We urge all who stand with us to write to their respective provincial leaders and stay informed by following us on social media, where we’ll be sharing all updates regarding the copyright amendment bill.