About registering copyright

Do you want to protect your creative work from being copied or reproduced by other people without your permission? Register your copyright  with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to have your work protected.

A copyright is an exclusive right granted by law for a stipulated period to an author, filmmaker, musician, designer, etc. for their original work. Copyright is created by putting the words "copyright" or "copyright reserved" or "copyright Smith 2009" (i.e. copyright, followed by name and the year), or the copyright symbol, name and year e.g. © Meati 2009.

Registering your copyright will enable you to take legal action against anyone reproducing fake copies of your work.

The Copyright Act protects certain classes or categories of works.

What kind of works qualify for copyright protection?

The following works are eligible for copyright, if they are original.

• Literary works e.g. books and written composition novels.
• Musical works.
• Artistic works e.g. paintings and drawings.
• Cinematograph films.
• Sound recordings.
• Broadcasts.
• Programme-carrying signals e.g. signals embodying a programme.
• Published editions e.g. first print by whatever process of a particular typographical arrangement of literary or musical work.
• Computer programs.

Who can register a copyright?

• A person who has written, printed, published, performed, sculpted, painted, filmed or recorded a work, is automatically the owner of the copyright to that work.
• Sometimes, when a person has been commissioned and paid to do a particular piece of work, the copyright belongs to the employer.
• Except for films, it is not possible to apply for copyright protection as it automatically exists.
• For copyright of literary works, the term is the life of the author plus 50 years from the end of the year in which the author dies
• The copyright of computer programs lasts for 50 years from the end of the year in which the work is made available to the public or is made.
• For sound recordings, the copyright lasts for 50 years from the end of the year in which the work was first broadcast.
  
• For films, 50 years from the end of the year in which the work is made available to the public or is made.
  

Note: You can only obtain copyright in South Africa if you are a South African citizen or if your work was produced in South Africa.

If you are not a South African citizen, you can obtain a copyright provided that you are a national of the other country which is part of the Berne Convention.

The Berne Convention is an international agreement on copyright by which member countries grant each other copyright protection.

What you should do

• Contact CIPC for registration of copyright in cinematograph films,
  
• Complete the following forms and submit in duplicate:       
  • Form RF1, Application form and acknowledgement of receipt
  • Form RF2, Register of copyright in cinematograph films
  • Form RF3, Registration of copyright in cinematograph films
  • Form RF9, Sworn declaration in support of statement of case.

Note: Submit the Power of Attorney letter, if services of an attorney are used.

Timeframe

Three months.

How much does it cost

R510

Forms to complete

(Forms are provided in PDF format. To open PDF documents, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on your computer.)

• Form RF1, Application form and acknowledgement of receipt
  
• Form RF2, Register of copyright in cinematograph films
• Form RF3, Registration of copyright in cinematograph films
• Form RF9, Sworn declaration in support of statement of case

Who to contact

Lloyd Matseembi
Tel: (012) 394 5064

Rathoka Mashifane
Tel:  (012) 394 5069