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ARTICLE · 13 JUNE 2022

Copyright Amendment Bill

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On 12 May 2022, the Constitutional Court heard argument on whether it should confirm the 2021 Gauteng High Court ruling (in the matter of Blind SA v. Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition...

South AfricaIntellectual Property
Stephen Hollis
Stephen Hollis
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On 12 May 2022, the Constitutional Court1 heard argument on whether it should confirm the 2021 Gauteng High Court ruling (in the matter of Blind SA v. Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition and others2) which declared the Copyright Act unconstitutional for not providing copyright exceptions to allow organizations representing blind and visually impaired persons to make accessible format copies of copyright works without the permission of copyright owners.

The High Court order was suspended for 24 months to allow Parliament to remedy the perceived defect in the Act. The High Court, however, also ordered that the text of Section 19D of the controversial Copyright Amendment Bill be read into law with immediate effect.

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