The protection provided under South Africa copyright laws doesn’t extend to ideas. To be eligible for protection under South Africa copyright laws the ideas must be expressed in material form. If someone has a great idea and shares that idea with another person who then goes on to publishing it in a written format, the person who’s idea it is, will not have the copyright to the work. Material or tangible format extends to cover broadcasted, photographed, painted, drawn or composed formats as well. It is however, not possible to get copyright protection for names or titles as trademark protection applies rather than copyright protection. Public knowledge and common property cannot be protected under the South Africa copyright laws. Examples of common property are telephone directories or voter lists.
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January 15, 2010 | Copyright
In South Africa, like in most Berne Convention countries, copyright subsist in a qualified work, the moment that the work is created in physical form. Therefore, no registration of copyright is necessary for copyright to subsist. Copyright provides exclusivity to the owner thereof to perform certain acts in respect of the works. In South Africa it is advisable to add the copyright symbol before the name and year or as an alternative write the word ‘copyright’ before the name and year. The South African Copyright Act makes provision to register copyright in cinematograph films. The benefit of registering such copyright is that the rights that already subsist in the copyright owner is recorded at CIPRO and, should the owner thereof institute proceedings, such registration can be used as proof of such rights. In event that copyright is not registered in cinematograph films, such rights first have to be proved during the course of the proceedings.
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The copyright process is an interesting one compared to other intellectual processes regarding issues such as trademarks and patents. There is no formal registration process for work concerned as there is with the other two subjects mentioned. There are, however, rather extensive laws governing the copyright process ranging from what is required in order for a piece of work to qualify for copyright protection, to determining the owner of the rights to the material.
There are many exceptions to the rules and clauses that come into effect, so matters concerning the copyright process are best handled by legal experts who have experience in the field of intellectual property. Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated’s fields of practice encompass all aspects, including litigation, relating to patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, as well as providing advice on the commercial rights attached to each of these forms of protection. Contact them with any queries regarding the copyright process.
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September 28, 2009 | Attorneys
Copyright lawyers are the lawyers who will assist you if you have any issues whatsoever regarding copyright of any of your works of the mind. Copyright is intellectual property and may be transferred, sold, licensed or lent to another person or entity in much the same way as any other property. However, in order that your rights are protected in the correct way, copyright lawyers should be used to draw up the appropriate agreements. Copyright is a specialized area of intellectual property law and should there be any confusion you should consult with and take the advice of copyright lawyers.
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September 28, 2009 | Attorneys
A copyright attorney is an attorney who will assist you in any issues that arise from copyright infringements and who can help you to set up agreements or contracts with publishers or others who may wish to use your copyrighted work. If, for example, you own the copyright to a novel and a film company or individual wishes to purchase the film rights, or if you have written a piece of music that a recording company wishes to use, a copyright attorney is the individual to approach. If you have any issues or queries regarding copyright the one of our copyright attorneys will be happy to assist you.
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September 28, 2009 | Attorneys
If you are the owner of a copyright, copyright attorneys can assist you in copyright and publisher agreements and can handle both the setting of contracts and help with high level litigation cases where copyright infringement has taken place. If you have copyright issues that need to be referred to the high courts of the country through the use of advocates, then our copyright attorneys can assist in your case. Protection of your copyright rights should be embedded in any agreements with publishers, music houses and so on. Let our copyright attorneys assist in setting up the agreements in order to protect your rights.
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September 28, 2009 | Attorneys
Copyrights protect several different types of work, such as:
Literary works (lectures, speeches, reports, poems, novels, biographies)
Musical works, artistic works (painting, photographs, drawings and sculptures)
Films
Sound recordings
Published editions
Computer programs
Copyrights begins as soon as the work is created and turned into a tangible form. That can mean the setting of music to paper or the saving of data into files. The prerequisite is that the information must be put in a tangible format and that a date and ownership be attached. Although not required in South Africa, in America copyrights need to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office as a requirement in order to sue for monetary damages should a violation of the copyright arise.
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September 28, 2009 | Attorneys
The most widespread form of Intellectual Property is Copyright. Copyright is the one form of intellectual property that does not have to be registered. Once put into a tangible form such as print or some other media, copyright automatically becomes yours. Generally speaking, any creative work by an individual is eligible for copyright protection. It is not enough for the work of art to be still an idea in the author’s head – it must have been recorded in material form. Because it is not registered does not mean that a creation of the mind is not valuable.
As an example, take a new novel. Not only does it have commercial value, but when looking at the screen rights to the novel, for example, it is easy to see that it also can have great strategic value.
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September 28, 2009 | Attorneys
A trademark attorney can advise you on both the selection of trademarks and will carry out searches on your behalf to ensure there is no conflict with earlier trademarks. Registration of your trademark offers you several advantages. It establishes your rights to the mark, even before you use it. Registration of your mark will also simplify any infringement proceedings and at the same time notifies others of your claim to that mark. A trademark attorney can also advise you on searching, licensing, technology transfer, setting up joint ventures, copyright protection and litigation in relation to intellectual property.
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You cannot copyright an idea; however, when you commit your inspiration to paper, you own it and all the rights to it. In South Africa, copyright does not require registration because your copyright is created the minute your work appears “in material form.”
Artists, authors, musicians, designers, and producers frequently dispute authorship of copyrighted works, but South African copyright law remains extremely clear: the first one to make some artifact from the idea owns the idea. For example, in the cases of literary, artistic, and musical works, the copyright belongs to the first person who produces the work. Therefore, common sense provides your best protection against copyright infringement: save and date the very first drafts or sketches of your work. You may even have a friend endorse your signature and date, authenticating the information.
Recordings, television programs, and electronic media follow the same rule: first one to make it owns it.
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