Unlike other forms of intellectual property protection provided for by statute, copyright does not need to be registered. Copyright subsists automatically. The only form of copyright that is registrable in South Africa is the copyright subsisting in cinematograph films.

What type of content enjoys copyright protection?

In order to be eligible for copyright, subject-matter must first qualify as one or more of the particular types of “works” provided for by the Act.  These works are limited to:

• Literary works (for example novels, poems, tables and manuals);
• Artistic works (for example photographs, paintings and drawings);
• musical works (for example music, exclusive of any words or action, reduced to writing or musical notations preserved in a material form, e.g. a record or a tape);
•  sound recordings (for example a compact disc or tape on which sounds are embodied);
• cinematograph films;
• broadcasts (for example radio and television;
• programme-carrying signals (for example a signal being emitted passing through a satellite);
• published editions (i.e. the first print of a particular typographical arrangement of a literary or musical work);and computer programs.

What are the requirements for copyright protection?

The first requirement for copyright to subsist is that the relevant subject-matter must constitute a “work” as provided for by the Act.

Secondly, a work must be original meaning that it was not copied from another source, but that the author has invested his / her own time, money, effort, skill, knowledge and endeavours to create the work.

Thirdly, a work must be in a material form in that a physical or tangible product exists.  This requirement entails that the work cannot be a mere thought or idea, but that it must have been created and then “fixed” in some manner. The fixing can take place in a number of ways, e.g. by having the content written down, recorded, filmed or captured electronically. The essential requirement is that the content has become locked into the physical world in some way.

Fourthly, the author of the work must be a citizen of South Africa, or be resident / domiciled in South Africa, or a country to which the operation of the Copyright Act has been extended.

What is the duration of copyright?

The duration of copyright, albeit limited, is a generous one. The exact duration of copyright depends on the type of work concerned, but can generally be considered as a period of at least 50 years from the moment of a certain event.  In the case of literary, musical and artistic works copyright endures for a period of 50 years after the death of the author.  In other cases such as cinematograph films and computer programs, copyright will expire 50 years after the work is made available to the public with the consent of the owner of the copyright or after the work is first published, whichever is the longer.

When the term of copyright in a work has expired the work falls into the public domain and the former restrictions on its use and exploitation cease to have any effect.

Who owns the copyright?

Generally, the person who creates a work owns the copyright in that work.  Thus, the author of a work is normally the first owner of the copyright subsisting therein.  However, there are certain exceptions to this general rule. For example, if the person who creates the work creates it during the course and scope of his employment, his employer will own the copyright of that work; a person who commissions the taking of a photograph, the painting or drawing of a portrait, the making of a sound recording or the making of a film owns the copyright of that work.

The ownership of copyright can be transferred or assigned by means of a written document.