ARIPO – CELEBRATING AFRICA COPYRIGHT AND COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT DAY
Africa Copyright and Collective Management Day is celebrated yearly on 14 September to raise awareness of Copyright and Collective Management Rights in Africa. The day was established by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Member States Collective Management Organizations, in collaboration with its partners, such as the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and […]
October 23, 2023|
Ed Sheeran two-steps to victory in copyright dispute across the pond
Ed Sheeran’s victories continue to multiply, after a New York jury recently ruled that his song, Thinking Out Loud, does not infringe the copyright of well-known American song, Let’s Get It On, written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend. This 100-million-dollar claim was first brought by Townsend’s heirs in 2017 against Sheeran, his records label, […]
May 10, 2023|
Recent Developments in the NFT, Metaverse and Web 3 space
As technology continues to advance, the digital landscape is constantly evolving, presenting new opportunities and challenges for Intellectual Property (IP) law. There have been notable developments involving the interplay between Intellectual Property, Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”), and the Metaverse, since the publication of our previous article on the topic. Firstly, the Hermès v Rothschild case, which […]
May 4, 2023
Artificial Intelligence and IP – Who owns the copyright
“you just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.” ― Isaac Asimov, I, Robot If a user were to provide an artificial intelligence (AI) program, such as ChatGPT, with a storyline and it produced a best-selling novel, would that novel be protected by copyright? And if it is, who would own […]
March 1, 2023
Moral of the Story
Authors of copyright protectable works retain certain rights despite not being the owners of such copyright By Daniëlle van Deventer The issue of relinquishing copyright ownership in an original piece of writing, an artwork or a musical composition is a complex and delicate issue. Fortunately, South African law provides some guidelines as to what is […]
January 16, 2023
NEW MOZAMBIQUE COPYRIGHT ACT
On 29 June 2022, the Assembly of the Republic approved the new Copyright Law of Mozambique, Law 9/2022. The new law came into force on 26 September 2022. The new Copyright Act is aimed at promoting and safeguarding the protection of literary, artistic and scientific works. The scope of works eligible for protection has been expanded […]
September 28, 2022
Blind SA vs Minister of Trade, Industry & Competition & Others
The Constitutional Court declares provisions of the Copyright Act unconstitutional The Constitutional Court of South Africa has declared the Copyright Act unconstitutional to the extent that it limits or prevents persons with visual and print disabilities from accessing works protected by copyright, in ways that persons without such disabilities would be able to access. In […]
September 22, 2022
Copyright counterclaim falls flat – Ed Sheeran Exonerated
“There are only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music – coincidence is bound to happen if 60 000 songs are being released every day…that’s 22 million songs a year and there are only 12 notes that are available”. Ed Sheeran’s words certainly ring true, in light of the momentous victory […]
April 12, 2022|
Pop stars to face the music over alleged copyright infringement
Copyright infringement hearings have certainly taken on a new meaning, after well-known musician, Ed Sheeran, recently performed bars of his hit, Shape of You, before the High Court in London in an effort to prove that portions of the chart-topper were not copied from an existing musical work. Mr. Sheeran is currently embroiled in a […]
March 28, 2022|
No copyright notice? No excuse.
Why use of unlicensed online images may constitute copyright infringement. All original images and photographs attract
July 27, 2021|