15th August 2019

The Honourable Cyril Ramaphosa

Office of the President
Union Buildings
Government Avenue
Pretoria
South Africa

By email only: presidentrsa@presidency.gov.za; nokukhanyaj@presidency.gov.za;

geofrey@presidency.gov.za

Dear Mr. President,

Re: COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL AND PERFORMERS’ PROTECTION AMENDMENT BILL

On behalf of organisations representing audiovisual producers, broadcasters, authors,

composers, music publishers, music producers, book and journal publishers, we congratulate
you on your re-election as President of the Republic of South Africa and write to you about a
looming issue that is critical to South Africa’s creative community and economy. Respectfully,
we ask that you send the Copyright Amendment and Performers’ Protection Bills back to
Parliament for a proper, sector-specific impact assessment and meaningful consultation with
affected stakeholders.

South Africa’s rich and diverse arts not only enhance the lives of South Africans culturally,
they also offer jobs and economic growth. The creative communities we represent have
enormous potential to foster continued artistic and economic contributions through their
creative work in South Africa and reinvestment in the development of the next generation of
South African artists and creators.

But for this to happen, South Africa’s creators must operate in a fair environment, supported
by appropriate public policies and legal standards.

As a priority, South Africa’s copyright framework must be fit for purpose.

The South African Government has committed itself to modernising South African copyright
law to bring it into line with the WIPO Internet and Beijing treaties, which South Africa intends
to ratify. Our communities fully support these policy aims. Regrettably, the Copyright
Amendment Bill and the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill, as currently drafted, would
not only fail to achieve these stated aims but they would instead undermine South Africa’s
creative communities. The proposals contained in the bills would, if adopted, limit the
creative sectors’ ability to protect their rights and invest in South Africa, substantially
weakening the South African internal and export markets for creative content. This would
harm South Africa’s creators, its strong creative culture and, ultimately, its citizens.

We, the undersigned, stand ready to work with you, Mr. President, to help secure a thriving
future for all participants in South Africa’s creative economy.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Lui Simpson Gadi Oron

Senior Vice President, Global Policy Director General
AAP – Association of American Publishers CISAC - The International Confederation of
Societies of Authors and Composers

YBP Benoît Ginisty John Phelan

Managing Director Director General
FIAPF - International Federation of Film ICMP – the global voice of music publishing
Producers Associations

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 Frances Moore Caroline Morgan
Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive and Secretary General
IFPI - representing the recording ifrro - The International Federation of
industry worldwide Reproduction Rights Organisations

Helen Smith Pierre Mossiat

Executive Chair President
IMPALA – Independent Music Companies IMPF - Independent Music Publishers
Association International Forum

José Borghino Stan McCoy

Secretary General President and Managing Director
IPA - International Publishers Association MPA -Motion Picture Association EMEA

Charlie Phillips
Chief Operating Officer
WIN – Worldwide Independent Network

cc: David Feinberg: davidf@rf-Iaw.co.za

Daniel Basckin: danielb@rf-Iaw.co.za

AAP, Association of American Publishers represents the leading book, journal, and education
publishers in the United States on matters of law and policy, advocating for outcomes that

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incentivize the publication of creative expression, professional content, and learning
solutions.

CISAC, The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, is the leading
worldwide organization representing authors’ societies. With 239 member societies in
122 countries, CISAC represents the interests of over 4 million creators from all over the world
and all artistic repertoires, including music, audiovisual works, drama, literature and visual
arts. In South Africa, CISAC members include SAMRO, DALRO and CAPSSO.

FIAPF, The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) is a trade

association dedicated to the defence and promotion of the legal, economic and creative
interests of film and audiovisual producers throughout the world. FIAPF's members are 33
national producers' organisations from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin
America.

ICMP, Is the world trade association representing the interests of the music publishing
community internationally. The constituent members of ICMP are music publishers’
associations from Europe, Middle East, North and South America, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
Included are the leading independent multinational and international companies and regional
and national music publishers, mainly SMEs, throughout the world.

IFPI, representing the recording industry worldwide, has some 1,300 record company
members in some 60 countries and affiliated industry associations in some 57 countries. IFPI’s
objective is to develop fair and balanced market conditions for our members to operate in, to
enable the recording industry to continue to invest in artists, create jobs, and contribute to
economic growth.

IFRRO, the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations, is the international

network of collective management organisations and creators’ and publishers’ associations
in the text and image spheres. IFRRO currently has 152 members from more than 80
countries.

IMPALA, is the European association of independent music companies. Its mission is to grow
the independent music sector, return more value to artists, promote cultural diversity and
entrepreneurship, improve political access and modernise perceptions of the music sector.

IMPF, the Independent Music Publishers International Forum, serves as an international

network and meeting place for independent music publishers. Its main objectives are to share
experiences and best practices in music publishing; exchange information on the legal and
regulatory framework and music publishing environment; coordinate actions and support
projects relevant to composers, authors and their music publishers; represent the interests
of the independent music publishing community; and stimulate a favourable environment for
artistic, cultural, linguistic and commercial
diversity www.impforum.org @IMPForum https://www.linkedin.com/company/impf

IPA, the International Publishers Association, is the world’s largest federation of publishers
associations. Established in 1896, it is an industry body with a human rights mandate, whose

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mission is to promote and protect publishing and raise awareness of publishing as a force for
economic, cultural and social development. Working in cooperation with the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and other supranational bodies, the IPA champions
the interests of book and journal publishing at national and supranational level.
Internationally, the IPA actively opposes censorship and promotes copyright, freedom to
publish (including through the IPA Prix Voltaire), and literacy.

MPA, The Motion Picture Association, serves as the voice and advocate of the six major
international producers and distributors of films, home entertainment and TV programmes -
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures
Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios LLC and
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. We are champions of IP rights, free and fair trade, innovative
consumer choices, freedom of expression and the enduring power of movies to enrich
people’s lives. To do so, we promote and protect the IP rights of our member companies and
conduct public awareness programmes to highlight to movie fans around the world the
importance of content protection. These activities have helped to transform entire markets
benefiting film and television industries in each country including foreign and local filmmakers
alike.

WIN, Worldworld Independent Network, exists to support the independent music community
through interaction with representative trade organisations and groups, and working directly
with international music industry bodies on issues of global significance.

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