Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has addressed the issue regarding the copyright amendment bill and performers protection amendment bill which people in the creative industry may see come to fruition after it has been recently passed by the National Assembly.
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The copyright and performers protection amendment bills provide for several significant measures relating to intellectual property rights and cover key products that are used in society and the economy, such as books, music, movies, photographs, sculptures, and architectural designs and their digital equivalents will help improve the lives of artists.
If you remember, President Cyril Ramaphosa had sent back the bills to parliament in 2o18 and 2020 based on reservations the President had about the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Parliament.
The issues of exploitation and royalties towards actors and creatives have been one of the biggest factors, especially on repeated programs where several actors have raised their concerns for government to intervene.
“This is the second time that it has been passed by the National Assembly, so we hold thumbs that the President will sign it. Once it is signed into law, the provisions of the Bill, now going into the act, allow for the setting up of a collecting society on behalf of audiovisual performers. This society will be able to enter into bilateral agreements will collecting societies around the world because actors’ loyalties are generated at the other end of the users of audio-visual material. But the defence has expressed its satisfaction on the matter and is expected to raise the issue in court,” said Adrian Galley, the Vice Chairperson of the SA Guild of Actors. As per reports by SABC.
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