Copyright, Fixture Lists And Freedom Of Expression

Copyright protects a wide range of works. The first of the categories listed in the South African Copyright Act ("the Act") is 'literary works'. It is an unhelpful monitor, because literary merit does not come into it at all – the definition in the Act in fact uses the phrase 'irrespective of literary quality'. The Act goes on to make it clear that works such as reports, tables and compilations are categorised under the term 'literary works'. Any combination of letters and / or numerals, sentences or slogans may also qualify as literary work, no matter how ordinary they are. Case law takes this even further – in the recent South African case of Board of Healthcare Funders v Discovery the court held that there was copyright in a compilation of numbers identifying medical practitioners, whereas older cases found that there was copyright in parts-numberings systems (Bosal v Grapnel and Payen v Bovic.)  A more accurate name might be 'written works'.