The ‘fair use' doctrine and the implications of digitising for the doctrine from a South African perspective

This article seeks to determine the scope of the 'fair use' doctrine under South African copyright law. For these purposes, the legal requirements in the relevant international treaties for the doctrine are examined, particularly the so-called 'three-step test'. Subsequently, the legal situations in other countries and regions – South Africa’s major trading partners the United States, Europe, and Australia – are described and compared. Thereafter, emphasis is placed on the impacts of digitising and the Internet on the fair use doctrine. Lastly, the article seeks possible solutions for South Africa with consideration of South Africa’s unique situation as a country between the developed and developing worlds

Conceptualising knowledge governance for development

Through examining conceptions of the interface between development and knowledge, and conceptions of the notion of knowledge governance, this article provides a conceptual framing for the items published in this AJIC “knowledge governance for development” thematic issue.CA2016www.wits.ac.za/linkcentre/aji

Fair use doctrine and implications of digitising for the doctrine from a South African perspective

This article seeks to determine the scope of the 'fair use' doctrine under South African copyright law. For these purposes, the legal requirements in the relevant international treaties for the doctrine are examined, particularly the so-called 'three-step test'. Subsequently, the legal situations in other countries and regions – South Africa’s major trading partners the United States, Europe, and Australia – are described and compared. Thereafter, emphasis is placed on the impacts of digitising and the Internet on the fair use doctrine. Lastly, the article seeks possible solutions for South Africa with consideration of South Africa’s unique situation as a country between the developed and developing worlds

The implications of digitizing and the Internet for "fair use" in South Africa

This thesis is going to examine the scope of fair use / fair dealing in South Africa, especially within an academic context. It proceeds in 5 parts. Part I will deal with the question of whether an international standard for fair use exists from which any clarification regarding the scope of the fair use doctrine can be deduced. In part II, the legal situation in other countries and regions, namely South Africa's major trading partners U.S.A., Europe (EC/Germany/UK) and Australia will be described and compared. This is done in order to analyse whether or not their approaches can either be adopted by South Africa or, at least, serve as a model. In part III, the impacts of digitizing and the Internet for the fair use doctrine will be examined, and part IV will, in some detail, explore the rights and obligations of libraries in an increasingly digitised world. After summarizing parts II-IV, part V will draw a conclusion and seek possible solutions for South Africa

South Africa

South Africa is the world’s 25th-largest country by surface area, and 24th-largest by population. It is located at the southernmost region of Africa and divided into nine provinces: Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape. South Africa’s colonial past dates to the 16th century. Slavery was widespread by the 17th century and was not abolished until the mid-19th century. Racial discrimination was rampant during the apartheid era between 1948-94, when South Africa was governed by the National Party. After protracted negotiations, the first democratic elections were held under an Interim Constitution in 1994. This negotiated transition from apartheid to democracy has been hailed as both ‘one of the most astonishing political achievements of our time’ and ‘a miracle’. Since 1994 the government has been led by the African National Congress (ANC), which won democratic elections in 1999, 2004 and 2009. Since 1994 the government has pursued democratisation, socioeconomic change and reconciliation

Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments

Final research report of the “Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments” project, which formed part of the World Wide Web Foundation’s "Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries" Phase 2 initiative. In order to address the principle question of whether open data practice is being embedded, the project undertook a comparison of government open data in South Africa and Kenya, with a particular focus on open licensing as a key indicator of openness

‘New hope for Africa? Copyright and Access to Knowledge in the Digital Age’

Purpose – This paper's main purpose is to deepen the general understanding regarding copyright exceptions and limitations as an important balancing tool of copyright law, particularly for developing countries in Africa. It seeks to address the problematic interplay between copyright exceptions and limitations on the one hand and technological protection measures (TPMs) on the other. It then aims to offer a solution for mitigating the potentially detrimental impact of TPMs on otherwise‐permitted uses of copyright‐protected knowledge materials. Design/methodology/approach – The paper's approach is legal doctrinal research that relies exclusively on written texts. Findings – The paper finds that copyright exceptions and limitations are currently in tension with the legal regulation of TPMs and their circumvention. The two do not seem to be optimally balanced, with some African countries having adopted an unduly restrictive legal approach. The paper therefore suggests a more balanced model that is in keeping with developmental ends and human rights concerns. Originality/value – The paper makes a meaningful contribution by locating the discussion in Africa and providing a suggested equitable legal approach

Copyright and Education: Lessons on African Copyright and Access

The African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) project is a pan-African research network of academics and researchers from law, economics and the information sciences, spanning Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Research conducted by the project was designed to investigate the extent to which copyright is fulfilling its objective of facilitating access to knowledge, and learning materials in particular, in the study countries. The hypotheses tested during the course of research were that: (a) the copyright environments in study countries are not maximising access to learning materials, and (b) the copyright environments in study countries can be changed to increase access to learning materials. The hypotheses were tested through both doctrinal legal analysis and qualitative interview-based analysis of practices and perceptions among relevant stakeholders. This paper is a comparative review of some of the key findings across the eight countries. An analysis of the legal research findings in the study countries indicates that national copyright laws in all eight ACA2K study countries provide strong protection, in many cases exceeding the terms of minimum protection demanded by international obligations. Copyright limitations and exceptions to facilitate access to learning materials are not utilised as effectively as they could be, particularly relating to the digital environment. Distance learning, the needs of disabled people, the needs of students, teachers, educational institutions, libraries and archives are inadequately addressed. To the extent that copyright laws address the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs), they do so primarily in a manner that further restricts access to learning materials. In summary, national copyright frameworks in the study countries are not geared for maximal access to learning materials, and are in need of urgent attention. An analysis of qualitative research findings, gathered from the field in stakeholder interviews, suggests that a substantial gap exists between copyright law and copyright practice in each country studied. Many users who are aware of the concept of copyright are unable or unwilling to comply with it or to work within the user rights it offers because of their socioeconomic circumstances. In everyday practice, with respect to learning materials, vast numbers of people act outside legal copyright structures altogether, engaging (knowingly or unknowingly) in infringing practices in order to gain the access they need to learning materials. In conclusion, evidence from the ACA2K project suggests that the copyright environments in the study countries can and must be improved by reforms that will render the copyright regimes more suitable to local developing country realities. Without such reform, equitable and non-infringing access to learning materials will remain an elusive goal in these countries