SOUTH AFRICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Roberto Barreiro, André du Plessis, Sarah Suleman and Shaawn Phooko, KISCH IP
eign applicants must appoint a South African attorney to file the application and be recorded as the address for service on the register. In South Africa, the copyright symbol is added to a work along with a copyright notice, which will incorporate the following elements: the word “Copyright” or the © symbol, the year in which the work was created, and the name of the own - er of the copyright. 3.8 Copyright Application Requirements In filing an application to register a cinemato - graph film, the applicant/authorised agent lodg - es an application to the Registrar, who will note the date of lodgement. This becomes the effec - tive date of registration of the film. The Registrar will examine the application and, if they are satisfied that the prescribed require - ments have been met and that the applicant is the copyright owner, they will accept the appli - cation. The application is then advertised for one month in the Patent Journal for opposition purposes. Following the one-month period, the application proceeds to registration. The most important document accompanying the application is the Statement of Case. This must be verified under oath, as it outlines all the facts pertaining to the copyright in the film, such as: • name of the film; • name, citizenship, and country of domicile of the author; • circumstances outlining that the applicant is in fact the author of the film; • date and place at which the film was made; • whether the film has been made available to the public and, if so, the date that this occurred;
• whether the film has been published and, if so, the place and date that this occurred; • a brief description of the subject matter of the film; • names of the director and producer of the film; • name of the narrator or main character of the film; and • any trade marks used in relation to or on the film or any other features that distinguish it from other films. The official fee to register the copyright in a cin - ematograph film is ZAR510 (roughly USD28), but the professional fees will differ depending on the firm that assists with such an application. 3.9 Refusal of Registration The Registrar may refuse the application if any of the prescribed requirements and informa - tion referred to in 3.8 Copyright Application Requirements have not been met/provided. Furthermore, if the Registrar is of the view that copyright does not vest in the film, they may also refuse the application. The applicant will be notified of the Registrar’s decision to refuse the application – follow - ing which, the applicant has a period of three months to challenge the refusal by submitting written arguments to the Registrar. Any incorrect information/clerical errors may be corrected on application by the applicant to the registry. 3.10 Related Rights Copyright and trade mark rights co-exist and are complimentary to each other. By way of example, copyright will vest in a logo (provided the requirements for subsistence are met) and a trade mark application can be filed for that same logo.
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