Hon Minister, there has been huge - as I have said
- debate in the media over the Copyright Amendment Bill insofar as the fair use system contained in Bill is concerned.
Opponents to the Copyright Amendment Bill have said that the fair use provisions will be extremely catastrophic for the authors and publishers in South Africa and that foreign investors will no longer invest in the country's creative industries.
Could the hon Minister elaborate by telling us which Acts are permitted under the fair use system and can the Minister also ensure, particularly the authors and the copyright industry, that these fair use acts will not infringe on the intellectual property rights and the potential income of authors and publishers in South Africa? Thank you.
The MINISTER OF SPORTS, ARTS AND CULTURE: Thank you hon member and thanks for your question. It's not only the fair use which is being raised. There are a number of issues with the Copyright Amendment Bill which are being raised and one of them is on the exceptions, and they argue on that level that their work, they are not going to be able to exploit their work to the fullest if the category of exceptions is what it is now.
I do not want to make any indication here because on the other hand, the performers, what the Bill seeks to do is to protect them on these contractual obligations they are locked into. But those who own the content, particularly, are opposed to that and we have our views, we have put the thing that government can no longer continue to bear the brunt of performers and creatives dying paupers when it can intervene but not everybody agrees with that. All I can say here is that there are issues, pros and cons from both sides but finally we will decide; and whichever way we would have decided and everybody would have to accept that. Thank you
Question 275:
The MINISTER OF SPORTS, ARTS AND CULTURE: Hon House Chairperson, the case for Moral Regeneration Movement, MRM, is sound and nobody would be opposed to that given the lingering effects of colonial and apartheid misrule characterised largely by violence and scant regard for fundamental human rights.
In this regard, we are indebted to the vision and foresight of the late President Mandela, that parallel to the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, which focus mainly on government's efforts towards the improvement of material conditions of our people, that there be an RDP of the soul as well which will focus
on spiritual needs of society and cultivate a collective sense of consciousness and corresponding obligations in safeguarding one another's welfare as opposed to simply just safeguarding our own.
A lot of work, through the Moral Regeneration Movement itself - a civil society-led organisation supported by government, is happening. One of the biggest constraints for the MRM has been the inadequacy of funding and general lack of capacity in meeting its strategic goals.
Granted the tough fiscal environment, recourse allocation to this important area of work will never be enough. There are a lot of activities which moral regeneration, together with government under the leadership of the patron of the MRM, the Deputy President, have been involved in.
One of those was the launch of the anti-femicide campaign in 2017. There are many other areas that moral regeneration is looking into, including availing the Charter of Positive Values to society. If we are to deal with the social ills, there has to be a thorough engagement with society, particularly in conscientising our society about our moral obligations. Thank you very much.