ConCourt to rule on copyright exemption for blind
In a watershed case to be heard in the Constitutional Court on 12 May, Blind SA and Section27 will highlight the unconstitutionality of the Copyright Act of 1978 for limiting access to books for persons who are blind or visually-impaired.
A Cape Argus report says the organisations are challenging SA’s copyright regime so that every person who is blind or visually-impaired can – in formats that are accessible to them – immediately get access to the vast libraries of published works available to sighted people.
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) found in a 2021 ruling that the Copyright Act was unconstitutional – for violating the rights of persons who are blind or visually-impaired, in particular their rights to equality, dignity, basic and further education, freedom of expression and language.
‘It is now up to the Constitutional Court to confirm this order of unconstitutionality and “read in” or add a section to the current Copyright Act, which includes an exception to copyright law specifically for persons with disabilities. Should the Constitutional Court confirm the High Court’s order, the “reading in” of this exception would be immediate, and would instantly give persons who are blind or visually impaired the ability to convert books into accessible formats without the risk of criminal sanction,’ said a joint statement from the organisations.
The organisations claim that many countries have exceptions in their copyright law for persons with disabilities.
The Cape Argus report notes in the absence of such an exception in SA, persons who are blind or visually disabled have to ask for permission from the copyright holder to convert a book into an accessible format like Braille, audio, large print or the Digitally Accessible Information System.
They claim further that an exception like this is not widely contested globally or even locally – the proposed section 19D in the Copyright Amendment Bill would allow persons with disabilities to convert published works into accessible formats without the consent of the copyright holder.
‘We have further asked that the reading in should be made permanent after 12 months if Parliament has not yet finalised the legislative process for the Copyright Amendment Bill,’ they said.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
