Copyright cases will be heard at the Constitutional Court on 28 November  

Today, the Constitutional Court has released directions for the cases of Blind SA v President of the Republic of South Africa and Ex Parte President of the Republic of South Africa, which provide instructions to all parties on the processes that now need to be followed.  The Court has consolidated the cases and have set these down for hearing on 28 November 2024.  

The directions from the Court further provide specific time frames for the delivery of certain court papers by the relevant parties. It has called on any interested political parties, who are represented in the National Assembly and Blind SA, to submit affidavits that will assist the Court in its determination of the President’s referral application. These parties are required to file their affidavits by 28 October 2024. 

Blind SA, represented by SECTION27, launched an urgent case in the Constitutional Court on 9 October 2024 in the matter Blind SA v President of the Republic of South Africa against the President for his failure to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB) by 21 September 2024. This was a deadline the Constitutional Court imposed on Parliament in 2022, when Blind SA challenged the constitutionality of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 for discriminating against persons who are blind and visually impaired by limiting their access to reading materials in formats such as braille or large print.  

In that case, the Court ordered Parliament to amend the Copyright Act by 21 September 2024 to include exceptions for persons who are blind and visually impaired. These exceptions will allow for the conversion of materials into accessible formats without the consent of the copyright holder. In the interim, the Court crafted its own exception for persons who are blind or visually impaired, section 13A, which was read immediately into the Copyright Act while Parliament amended the Act. The exception read into the Copyright Act by the Court in 2022 was valid until 21 September 2024. 

Parliament made the necessary amendments through draft legislation called the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB), which also revised many other aspects of the Copyright Act and sent this to the President for signature in February this year.  

When the President failed to sign the CAB, Blind SA launched urgent litigation and requested that he be compelled to sign the CAB, alternatively, that the court-crafted exception, section 13A, continue to be read into the Copyright Act until the CAB is signed. 

However, on 16 October 2024, the President referred the CAB to the Constitutional Court in the matter Ex Parte President of the Republic of South Africa, which stems from reservations he expressed in 2020 about specific aspects of the CAB. This referral requires the Court to determine whether Parliament has adequately addressed the President’s concerns in the CAB and is limited to investigating only those provisions related to these. If the Court finds any of these provisions to be unconstitutional, it will refer the CAB back to Parliament to correct the defects.  

The President’s referral of the CAB to the Court means that the CAB cannot be signed until the Court decides on the constitutionality of those provisions highlighted by the President and, if necessary, only once Parliament has attended to any issues the Court raises.  

As such, Blind SA has amended the relief it seeks and is now only requesting that the court-crafted section 13A exception be resuscitated so that it remains in effect until the President signs the CAB.  

For any queries, please contact:      

Pearl Nicodemus | nicodemus@section27.org.za | 082 298 2636