Copyright-faq

These are some of the questions about copyright that DALRO is asked most often by the public. 

If you have a question we haven't covered here, please go to the contact us section and send in your query.

I HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK. HOW DO I REGISTER MY COPYRIGHT?
In South Africa one does not register copyright. Copyright arises automatically. In other words, the ideas you express on the page or the computer screen become your intellectual property as you set them down in material form.

HOW DO I COPYRIGHT THE NAME OF MY PLAY/BOOK/BUSINESS?
There is no copyright in a title or a name.

DO I NEED A LICENCE TO PHOTOCOPY A CHAPTER FROM A BOOK FOR MY OWN PERSONAL AND PRIVATE USE?
No. Please refer to the section on fair dealing.

IS IT CORRECT THAT AS LONG AS I PHOTOCOPY 10% OR LESS OF A PUBLISHED WORK, THIS IS PERMITTED?
No, it’s not correct. The Copyright Act says nothing about ‘10%’ or about any other percentage. 10% may be ‘fair’ but then again, it may not, since the test for fair dealing is qualitative as well as quantitative. Please refer to the section on fair dealing.

IF THE BOOK I WANT TO COPY FROM IS OUT OF PRINT, SURELY I CAN DO AS I PLEASE?
'Out of print' does not necessarily mean ‘out of copyright’. In South Africa, copyright lasts for 50 years after the death of the author. In addition, please remember that there are two copyrights in every published page, and while the author may own copyright in the content, the publisher owns copyright in the published edition, or the typographical arrangement on the page. Copyright in the published edition lasts for 50 years from the end of the year in which the work was first published.

BUT IF THE BOOK IS OUT OF PRINT AND UNAVAILABLE, THE PUBLISHER IS NOT LOSING ANY SALES BY MY COPYING HIS BOOK?
It is wrong to imagine that publishers and authors exploit a work only when it is in print, or that sales are the only means of exploiting a work. Long after the book is out of print it may still generate revenues for its creators through the sale of, e.g., translation rights, film rights and reprographic reproduction (photocopying) rights.

WHAT ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS, GRAPHS, MAPS AND SO ON?
These are all defined as 'artistic works' in the Copyright Act, and are copyright protected.

WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY COPYRIGHT FEES? ISN’T INFORMATION SUPPOSED TO BE FREE?
The royalties collected by RROs find their way back to the rights’ owners, the people who have, through their mental efforts, created the intellectual property. Without reimbursement, they have little incentive to go on creating, and there would be no information. In any case, no photocopied page is free: you pay for the paper, the ink, the toner and the use of the machine. When you pay a copyright fee as well, you also pay for the content - arguably the most valuable part of the photocopied page.