ANFASA COPYRIGHT GROUP
ANFASA COPYRIGHT GROUP MEMBERS
| Prof Keyan Tomaselli (Academic Sector) |
keyant@uj.ac.za |
| Prof Owen Dean | |
| Don Mthobela | |
| Hetta Pieterse | |
| Maria Tsvere (Observer) |
|
| Samu Mfuphi (ANFASA National Coordinator) |
samu@anfasa.org.za |
WHAT THE GROUP DOES
ANFASA has been following the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB) for the past few years, and has actively participated in the debates about it. ANFASA has been the voice of authors protesting against the provisions in the CAB which have the potential to adversely affect authors’ incomes as well as to threaten the local publishing industry. A healthy publishing industry is essential for author development.
Of ANFASA’s members, authors in the academic sector will be the most prejudiced by unfavourable copyright law, but the universities have largely taken a pro-Bill position based on ‘access’. Keyan Tomaselli is active in this sector to facilitate a greater understanding of how copyright affects ‘creators’ (authors and publishers) as well as ‘users’ (students).
In 2019, Parliament passed the CAB despite the objections of ANFASA and other stakeholders, but the president declined to sign it into law on grounds of its unconstitutionality. It has been sent back to Parliament to be reconsidered.
At this point, ANFASA is not intending to play a major role in further debates about the CAB. We have made our position abundantly clear. However, ANFASA will remain a member of the Copyright Coalition and will stay updated on developments in preparation for making a submission to Parliament on behalf of authors when the time comes to do so.
Meanwhile, ANFASA will keep its membership informed and, when necessary, explain to them the complexities of the CAB and why ANFASA has found fault with it. ANFASA will continue to work, now and in the future, for balanced copyright legislation that takes into account the needs and interests of authors.
ACTIVITIES
- Members of the Copyright Group will source and share information about aspects of copyright relevant to authors and the publishing industry of which they are part.
- Members of the Group will be familiar with the ANFASA-PASA AGREEMENT ON CONTRACT TERMS (APACT) which sets out and explains the terms in book publishing contracts.
- The Copyright Group answers members’ questions on copyright and, especially, on publishing contracts. Such e-mail or telephonic advice is one of the main reasons that authors become members of ANFASA.
- Underlying all the above activities is the objective of helping South African authors to be better informed about their rights. To this effect, ANFASA holds workshops (now, online workshops), sends bulletins to members and places relevant articles on the ANFASA website.
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Copyright amendment Bill draft download