Wikimedia South Africa/Copyright Amendment Bill/Role Players

This is a list of notable supporters and detractors of the South African Copyright Amendment Bill (2018) and their stated interests in the bill. Where possible it summarises their publicly stated reasons for supporting or critiquing the bill.

To see the main article on Wikimedia South Africa's advocacy efforts regarding the Copyright Amendment bill please see South African Copyright Amendment Bill.

Supporters

F: Some notable organisations actively supporting the Copyright Amendment bill:

Name	Status	Industry	Country of origin	Stated reason for being in support of the bill.
Wikimedia South Africa (WMZA)	Non-profit	Free knowledge		In favour of Freedom of Panorama and Fair Use; all included in the bill.
ReCreate South Africa	Umbrella organisation	multiple		Collective organisation representing a broad group of creators that are in favour of bill and fair use in particular. Some support easier access for libraries and study, some for reuse for public benefit purposes like documentary film makers, others support elements in the bill that expand royalty rights for actors and artists.
Blind South Africa (BlindSA)	Non-profit	Community interests		Support the bill's copyright exception for the blind community to reprint books in braille and its alignment with the Marrakesh treaty for the blind allowing access to content for the disabled.
Library and Information Association of SA (LIASA)	Non-profit	Education		Supports copyright exception for libraries to copy material for archiving, public access to library books, and public benefit.
Southern African Research Universities Association (SARUA)	Academic	Law		Supports Fair Use. Argues it promotes the public good and promotes creatively.
Global Expert Network on Copyright User Rights (GENCUR)	Academic	Law		"In our view, the proposed fair use provision combined with the specific list of exceptions provides South Africa the “best of both worlds” combining openness and predictability" whilst being "fully compliant with international law."
University of Cape Town Intellectual Property Unit (UCTIP)	Academic	Law		Supports Fair Use. Argues it promotes the public good and promotes creatively.
South African Guild of Actors (SAGA)	Trade union	Entertainment		Supports expanded royalty rights for actors and artists contained in the bill.
Scholarly Horizons	Private Sector	Academic consultancy		Strongly supports the adoption of fair use and other copyright exceptions for archives and libraries. Denise Nicholson is very knowledgeable about the history of copyright reform efforts in South Africa and the CAB.
South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU)	Trade union	Education		Supports copyright exceptions for educational purposes contained in the bill.
Wikimedia Foundation	Non-profit	Free knowledge		In favour of Freedom of Panorama and Fair Use; all included in the bill.
Right2Know (R2K)	Non-profit	Transparency		Supports copyright exceptions for educational, research, and government transparency purposes contained in the bill.
Section27	Non-profit	Human rights		Supports copyright exceptions for educational purposes contained in the bill.
Google (Alphabet Inc)	for-profit company	Technology		"Google is supportive of the Copyright Bill's adoption of fair use in Section 12A, as the way to best achieve the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition’s (DTIC) objectives" to promote technological development & innovation and support the development of the fourth industrial revolution in South Africa.
COSATU	Trade Union	Trade Union		States that the CAB is "a progressive Bill that will help ensure that indigent learners and students, as well as educational institutions and libraries have access to often exorbitantly unaffordable educational materials."

Detractors

A: Some notable individuals and organisations actively opposing the Copyright Amendment bill

Name	Status	Industry	Country of origin	Stated reason for being against the bill.
Copyright Coalition of South Africa	(umbrella organisation)	unclear, not listed		Claim that the bill will "harm the ability of individuals as well as small, medium and large enterprises in the creative industry to earn a living" and that the bill was "railroaded through" parliament without sufficient consultation. Both are false claims. Also claims that the bill panders to "apparent pervasive influence of big technology companies, specifically Google" and that it will "only benefit big technology companies at the expense of [South African] creators of copyright works."
Coalition for Effective Copyright in SA	(umbrella organisation)
Publishers Association of South Africa (PASA)	Publishing industry body	Publishing		Allege that fair use will allow for wide scale copyright piracy and that the process of creating the CAB was controversial and flawed.
SAMRO	Collecting Society	Music		Fair use disrupts their business model and allege that it will sanction piracy. Must be noted that the Performers Protection Act (linked to the bill) also introduces criminal penalties for collecting societies caught not paying royalties to musicians; a clause that the collecting societies were vocally against when introduced into the bill.
Dramatic, Artistic, Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO)	Copyright asset management organisation	multiple
Academic and Non-Fiction Authors of South Africa (ANFASA)	Writers representative body	Publishing
PEN Afrikaans	Writers and publishers representative body	Publishing
Multichoice (a NASPERS company)	for-profit company	Streaming service		Fair use and royalty rights for artists disrupts their business model.
Netflix	for-profit company	Streaming service		Fair use and royalty rights for artists disrupts their business model.
Motion Picture Association	International film lobbyist organisation (USA)	Film		Fair use and royalty rights for artists disrupts their business model. Claim that the bill will force foreign investment in the South African film sector overseas.
International Intellectual Property Alliance	International film lobbyist organisation (USA)	Film		Fair use and royalty rights for artists disrupts their business model. Claim that the bill will force foreign investment in the South African film sector overseas.
South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL)	Patent/IP attorney representative body	Law		Worries about constitutional implications, allege that no legal assessment was done, allege that no "adequate" socio-economic impact assessment was done. Opposes Freedom of Panorama.
Southern African Freelancers' Association (SAFREA)	Membership representative body	Freelance workers		"Fair use is misuse." Argue that fair use is arbitrary deprivation of property through expropriation and denies the right to authorship.
International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF)	International film lobbyist organisation (Europe)	Film		State that the bill will disrupt their business model in South Africa and allege it will create legal uncertainty for them. Claim that the bill will force foreign investment in the South African film sector overseas.
Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC)	International NPO advocacy organisation for interests of creators worldwide (Europe)	Various		Argues that it would harm the creative community, devalue creators' works, and deviate from international best practices by focusing excessively on exceptions and limiting creators' rights.
Recording institute of South Africa (RiSA)	Trade Association for South African Record Companies	Music		Against fair use specifically. Accuse it of being too broad and allege that it will let people use works without having to ask permission of the author.
Sadulla Karjiker - Stellenbosch University: Anton Mostert Chair of Intellectual Property Law	Academic	Law		Alleges that the bill is poorly drafted and that they were unfairly excluded from the drafting process. It must be noted that the numerous rounds of inclusive public consultation on the drafting of the bill by government since 2015 makes this accusation difficult to believe to the pro-bill side. In 2021 Karjiker and Prof Owen Dean publish a book critical of the bill.
South African Music industry Council (SAMIC)	Trade Association for South African Record Companies	Music		Claim that fair use will allow for the "usurption" of copyright by introducing a process that will be a burden for record labels by making it more difficult to assert copyright and seek maximum compensation. Argues for enhanced fair dealing rights for copyright holders.
Adams & Adams	Patent/IP law firm	Law		Argue that the CAB is “arguably the world’s broadest regime of new copyright exceptions and limitations” and that these will “weaken rightsholders’ positions to an all-time and unacceptable low”."