PUBLIC HEARINGS
What’s worrying the American Chamber of Commerce about SA’s copyright bill
American Chamber of Commerce raises concerns over ambiguities and the lack of clarity
Ambiguities and the lack of clarity in the definition of key concepts in the Copyright Amendment Bill needed to be sorted out in the interests of foreign investment, the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) argued in Parliament on Friday. The chamber made a submission to Parliament’s trade and industry committee during the third day of public hearings, which involved presentations by a wide range of stakeholders from filmmakers to lawyers, broadcasters, print media, librarians and performing and recording associations. Amcham raised concern over undefined terms such as "user", "performer" and "producer" and how they were to be applied in the provisions of the bill where they were used. Attorney Herman Blignaut from law firm Spoor & Fisher submitted that the amendments giving users, performers and producers rights to royalties were wrong in law as only owners of copyright were entitled to claim royalties. It was incorrect, he said, to give users and performers the right to transfer ...
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