Works eligible for copyright

In terms of section 2(1) of the Act, the following works, if they are original, are eligible for copyright. (For further information regarding Originality and Reduction to Material Form, please click here):

• literary works
• musical works
• artistic works
• cinematograph films
• sound recordings
• broadcasts
• programme-carrying signals
• published editions
• computer programs

These works are defined in section 1 as follows:

• A 'literary work' includes, irrespective of literary quality and in whatever mode or norm expressed:
1. novels, stories and poetical works;
2. dramatic works, stage directions, cinematograph film scenarios and broadcasting scripts;
3. textbooks, treatises, histories, biographies, essays and articles;
4. encyclopedias and dictionaries;
5. letters, reports and memoranda;
6. lectures, speeches and sermons; and
7. tables and compilations, including tables and compilations of data stored or embodied in a computer or a medium used in conjunction with a computer but not including a computer program.

• A 'dramatic work' includes a choreographic work or entertainment in dumb show, if reduced to the material form in which the work or entertainment is to be presented, but does not include a cinematograph film as distinct from a scenario or script for a cinematograph film.
• An 'artistic work' means, irrespective of the artistic quality thereof-
  1. paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and photographs;
  2. works of architecture, being either buildings or models of buildings; or
  3. works of craftsmanship, not falling within either of the above.

  Certain of the terms used in this definition are defined as follows:

  • 'sculpture' includes any cast or model made for purposes of sculpture;
  • 'drawing' includes any drawing of a technical nature or any diagram, map, chart or plan;
  • 'engraving' includes any etching, lithograph, woodcut, print or similar work, but does not include a photograph;
  • 'photograph' means any product of photography or of any process analogous to photography, but does not include any part of a cinematograph film
  • A 'cinematograph film' means any fixation or storage by any means whatsoever on film or any other material of data, signals or a sequence of images capable, when used in conjunction with any mechanical, electronic or other device, of being seen as a moving picture and of reproduction, and includes the sounds embodied in a sound-track associated with the film, but shall not include a computer program.
  • A 'broadcast' when used as a noun, means a telecommunication service of transmissions consisting of sounds, images, signs or signals by means of electro-magnetic waves of specified frequencies, transmitted in space without an artificial conductor, and intended for reception by the public, and includes the emitting of programme-carrying signals to a satellite; and when used as a verb shall beconstrued accordingly. A 'broadcaster' means a person who makes a broadcast.
  • A 'computer program' means a set of instructions fixed or stored in any manner and which, when used directly or indirectly in a computer, directs its operation to bring about a result.
  • A 'programme-carrying signal' means a signal embodying a programme which is emitted and passes through a satellite; and a 'programme' in relation to a programme-carrying signal means a body of live or recorded material consisting of images or sounds or both, embodied in a signal.
  • A 'published edition' means the first print by whatever process of a particular typographical arrangement of a literary or musical work.
  • A 'sound recording' means any fixation or storage of sounds, or data or signals representing sounds, capable of being reproduced, but does not include a sound-track associated with a cinematograph film.
  • A 'record' means any disc, tape, perforated roll or other device in or on which sounds, or data or signals representing sounds are embodied or represented so as to be capable of being automatically reproduced or performed therefrom.

  Featured news A Gnu Named Adam - a blog from Urb-Ski Paper Toys Or, A Gnu Named Adams & Adams, should i say...   I recently finished this rad little project for Adams & Adams - Attorneys. I was commissioned to produce 23 hand cut lapel pins and 45 3D paper wildebeest.   Featured office: Cape Town Inquiry: +27 (0) 21 418 8560   Featured person: du Preez, Johan Partner Trade Mark Attorney Tel: +27 (0) 12 432 6308