The South African creative industry has a potential that we all need to work together and unlock. This was said by the Deputy Director-General of Consumer and Corporate Regulation at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Ms Zodwa Ntuli. She was speaking at the Copyright Amendment Bill conference held in Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg today.

According to Ntuli, the copyright-based industries which are currently contributing close to 5% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and towards job creation, can contribute more, if they were provided with the support they require. She said the framework and the Copyright Amendment Bill were going to pave a way for the industry and unlock the bottlenecks.

Ntuli added that power imbalances and piracy in the industry were some of the key issues that the Bill was addressing, and that those affected by the proposed Bill needed to make contributions, submissions and inputs into it.

She said the proposals contained in the Bill included the introduction and definition of crafts work as works of pottery, glasswork, sewing, knitting, crochet, jewellery, tapestry, woodwork, lace work, embroidery, paper tolling, folk art and hand-made toys. There is also the proposal of one collecting society that will be registered and regulated by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). Ntuli said the other proposal was for the commercial re-use of works, such as the rebroadcasting of films in the area of copyright without any compensation to the author, to be deemed unfair.
The conference was attended by various stakeholders in the creative industries and focused on the education, research and access to knowledge. It also dealt with the contribution of the copyright industry in the mainstream economy as well as the necessary interventions required in the copyright industry.

The Copyright Amendment Bill was published for broader public comment by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies. Interested persons have until 16 September 2015 to submit their comments.

Caption: Deputy Director-General for Consumer and Corporate Regulation Division at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Ms Zodwa Ntuli

Issued by The Department of Trade and Industry