In a letter to Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, EIFL urged the President to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill [B13B - 2017] without delay. The Bill, amending the 1978 Copyright Act, was approved by the legislature in March 2019 and awaits the Presidential assent. The Bill introduces new exceptions for libraries, education and people with disabilities, and brings copyright rules in South Africa into the digital age.

However, the Bill has run into trouble following objections by US-based multinational copyright industries that say it fails to adequately protect US copyrights. As a result, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has announced a review of South Africa’s place in its largest preferential trade scheme for developing countries, putting at risk billions of dollars in South African exports to the US.

EIFL urges President Ramaphosa to sign the Bill without delay signalling that South Africa, as a sovereign state, is perfectly entitled to make use of flexibilities in the international copyright system to devise a modern copyright law that meets the needs of all its people, and the development priorities of the nation.