Copyright Review Commission Report - ICT Law and Regulation ...

14.2 CONCLUSIONS14.2.1. With regard to collection activities and the state of the relevant legislation, South Africa lags behind the developedworld. There is, however, room for improvement and the right levels can be achieved. Areas that need to beimproved include: Intensification of collections (users’ awareness of their responsibilities); Digital downloads and ringtones; Growth of sound recording components; and Ineffectiveness of the Copyright Tribunal and the competitiveness of the tariffs.14.2.2. With regard to efficiency, a significant improvement is required in this area.14.2.3. One of the biggest problems for the industry is the high level of foreign music consumption and the current localquotas have done little to improve the situation. While there is a recommendation to improve the current quotas,the solution is not sustainable on a longer term if the local cultural problems are not addressed appropriately.14.2.4. The issue of copyright duration will have to be reviewed once the problem around local content has been resolvedon a sustainable basis.15 KEY RECOMMENDATIONSMany of the points set out below became apparent during the work of the CRC.15.1 DEFECTS IN LEGAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO COPYRIGHT AND THE PERFORMERSRIGHT TO NEEDLETIME15.1.1. The provisions in the Copyright Act and the Performers’ Protection Act that create a statutory licence in respect ofneedletime do not adequately protect the rights owners and can be (and have been) exploited to createunnecessary delays. The CRC’s recommendations to address this problem are set out in paragraph 3.3.6 ofChapter 3.15.1.2. The provisions in the Collecting Society Regulations for payment into an ‘escrow’ account are unsatisfactorybecause:(1) Even that portion of the amount deposited into such an account, which represents the amount the useragrees it is liable to pay, cannot be distributed until the dispute as to the appropriate tariff is resolved; and(2) If the user must pay the amount demanded before being permitted to broadcast or otherwise communicatethe recordings in question to the public (an issue which is sub-judice), it may be obliged to pay anunreasonably large sum of money into the account.Both these problems are addressed in the CRC’s recommendations set out in paragraph 3.3.6 of Chapter 3.- 101 -