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Library Services on eFundi: What is Copyright?

What is Copyright?

Copyright is the right whereby certain products of the mind are protected by law. The Copyright Act (Act 98 of 1978) states that copyright is breached if a person who is not the owner of the copyright in any way reproduces literary or musical works without the owner's permission.

South Africa is a signatory of the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. As a member of the Bern Union, South Africa is compelled to ensure that its copyright laws comply with specific minimum requirements.

Copyright occurs when you:

  • perform an action which may legally only be performed by the copyright holder;
  • deprive the copyright holder of income by making illegal or unauthorised copies of a work;
  • create an illegal digital edition of a work and
  • illegally copy artistic works, e.g. images, on the Internet.

Useful Links:

Questions about Copyright

Be a Responsible Scholar: Mind Copyright!

Copyright licenses

A copyright license grants the license holder the right to exercise such rights as are granted through a license agreement, e.g. a license may be granted to reproduce the pages of a book. Still, the copyright owner remains the owner of the rights in question, e.g. to reproduce the pages of a book.  Also, consider:

  • DALRO makes published work accessible and affordable through licensing.
  • Reserved works: Blanket licensing to higher education institutions allows a number of students and professional employees who would not, in any case, have bought the published work to lawfully gain access to a photocopied extract from the work.
  • E-copy: If you want to create a digital edition of a work and you are not the copyright owner, you must get permission from the copyright owner.
  • Out-of-print: Out-of-print does not mean “out-of-copyright” because even if a book is out of print and the author does not generate income from its sales, they might still generate income via translation rights, film rights, or photocopying.
  • Maps, drawings and pictures are “artistic works” in the Copyright Act and are copyright-protected.
  • Images on the Internet: Even if the website owner has a license to use the image, this license does not automatically extend to you as a visitor to his / her site.
  • Intellectual property: If you write a book in South Africa, copyright arises automatically. 
  • Duration: In SA, copyright protection in literature, music, and artistic works lasts for the life of the author and 50 years after his death (multiple authors - 50 years after the longest-living author dies).

Fair dealing

Fair use or fair dealing is provided for in a section of the SA Copyright Act. Your actions are legal as long as your copy does not deprive the rights holder of income. However, making multiple copies of a copyright-protected work falls outside fair dealing. Fair dealing allows:

  • copying for research and study as much of a work to meet reasonable needs without seeking permission from the copyright owner and paying compensation
  • quoting from a copyright-protected work provided the source, author or copyright owner is acknowledged
  • using work for criticism, review or for reporting current events in a newspaper, journal or magazine