Smit & Van Wyk, Inc.

Copyright Applications for Licenses

If you manage an educational facility or perhaps a drama academy you will need assistance with copyright applications regarding licensing to ensure that you can copy specific works or reproduce performances.

Copyright applications can be done for blanket licensing where the institute or organisation grant open authorisation to the applicant which will be the licensee to copy work under the control of the institute within specific boundaries. The details of what copying may entail must be reported before the agreement. Another type of license is that of transactional, which provides authorisation of specific reproduction of work which must include the full bibliographical details of the particular work, as well as the number of pages and number of copies that the transaction includes.

With the transactional license, permission must be sought for the copying of articles, and the placement of the articles in the short loan division of the educational library facility, distribution of copies in electronic format, making of multiple copies to be handed out to students for the purpose of completing a project, and the compilation as well as distribution of course packs to the learners or students. Copyright Law in South Africa makes provision for the permissible photocopying of ten percent or a chapter of a book or set of articles from periodicals.

There is a specific procedure which must be followed to regarding copyright applications for a transactional licence. The specific source such as journal or book details must be provided, the completed forms must be submitted with the relevant copyright officer or office in charge, and once approval is obtained, the reproduction of the specific works must be done within the boundaries of the license agreement.