Subsistence of copyright

Because of the long duration of copyright (the life of the author plus fifty years, in some cases) and in view of the fact that copyright is not generally a registrable right but has to be established on the basis of the facts and circumstances at the time when the copyright work was created, it is necessary to be aware of the statutory development since the first consolidated South African statute on copyright.

The dates on which the various Acts came into force are also relevant, since the provisions of a particular Act may determine whether or not copyright subsists in a specific work and who the owner of the copyright in a particular instance would be.  The relevant Acts and dates are as follows:

• Act No. 9 of 1916, Chapter IV, came into force on 1 January 1917.
• Copyright Act No. 63 of 1965 came into force on 11 September 1965.
• Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978 came into force on 1 January 1979.

The 1978 Act (which will be referred to as “the Copyright Act” or “the Act") has been amended several times.  Some of these amendments will be referred to in more detail further on.  Again, it is important that the nature of some of these amendments and the commencement dates be noted, since substantive rights may have been created or amended from time to time.