Acts Online
GT Shield

Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978)

Notices

Application of Act to Countries to which it does not extend

Notice No. 136 of 1989

 

Notice No. 136

3 March 1989

 

The Minister of Economic Affairs and Technology has, under the provisions of section 37 of the Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978), issued the following notice:

 

1. In this notice, unless the context otherwise indicates—

 

(a) "Berne Copyright Union" means the Union constituted by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed on 9 September 1886 and completed at Paris on 4 May 1896, revised by the Berlin Convention, signed on 13 November 1908 and completed at Berne on 20 March 1914, revised by the Rome Convention, concluded on 2 June 1928 and revised by the Brussels Convention signed on 26 June 1948, revised by the Stockholm Convention on 14 July 1967 and revised at Paris on 24 July 1971; and

 

"country of the Berne Copyright Union" means any country which ratified or acceded to any one or more of the said Conventions and is mentioned in Schedule 1 hereto;

 

(b) "country of origin" means—
(i) in the case of a published work, if the country of first publication is a country mentioned in Schedule 1, that country;
(ii) in the case of a work published simultaneously in a country of the Berne Copyright Union and a country which is not in the said Union, the former country;
(iii) in the case of a work published simultaneously in several countries of the Berne Copyright Union, the country whose laws give the shortest term of protection for such a work;

 

(c) "material time" means—
(i) in relation to an unpublished work, the time at which such work was made or, if the making thereof extended over a period, a substantial part of that period;
(ii) in relation to a published work, the time of first publication;

 

(d) "published simultaneously" means published within a period of 30 days from the date of first publication;

 

(e) "the Act" means the Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978), and any expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act, bears the same meaning when used in this notice.

 

2. The provisions of the Act shall, in the case of any country specified in Schedule 1, apply—
(a) in relation to literary, musical or artistic works, cinematograph films, sound recordings and published editions first published in that country, as they apply in relation to literary, musical or artistic works, cinematograph films, sound recordings and published editions first published in the Republic;
(b) in relation to persons who at a material time are citizens or subjects of that country, as they apply in relation to persons who at such a time are South African citizens;
(c) in relation to persons who at a material time are domiciled or resident in that country, as they apply in relation to persons who at such a time are domiciled or resident in the Republic;
(d) in relation to bodies incorporated under the laws of that country, as they apply in relation to bodies incorporated under the laws of the Republic:

Provided that copyright in a sound recording or a published edition shall subsist only to the extent that protection in the nature of or related to copyright is granted under the laws of its country of origin in respect of such a work first published in the Republic or made by a qualified person referred to in section 3(1) of the Act (hereinafter referred to as a "South African work") and such a work shall not enjoy any wider protection by virtue of this proclamation than is enjoyed in its country of origin by a South African work of the same description.

 

3. The Proclamation specified in Schedule 2 is hereby repealed.

 

4. This notice shall take effect on publication.