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

enterprises. There was a suggestion at the public hearings that some regulation was required to ensure goodbusiness practices from small, independent producers.12.1.8. The lack of definition of what constitutes the labour force in the creative industry and what their rights are withinthe Labour Relations Act create difficulties for the role of a creative workers’ union.12.1.9. The system of licensing that continues to reproduce a colonial system, which plays more foreign than localmusic on the airwaves, should be reviewed. The aim should be to saturate the domestic market with local andAfrican music and turn South Africa into a music exporting rather than a music importing country.12.2 DEVELOPING EXPERTISE ON THE INTERPLAY OF LAW, TECHNOLOGY ANDSOCIETY12.2.1. To keep track of the changes within the music industry, expertise needs to be developed to inform policy on theinterplay of IP law, technology and society. Along similar lines as the CTI in Brazil, the dti or the Department ofScience and Technology should consider partnering with one or more tertiary institutions to work with orestablish an institute to champion IP in the developmental context by focusing on the reform of law, technologyand society in the interest of sustainable development and democracy. The challenge here is for governmentand civil society, particularly the IP legal and academic fraternity, to develop critical notions of IP that promotesustainable development and democracy, rather than uncritically applying traditional models that serve an eliteand do not lead to economic development.12.2.2. Such an institute should promote the Creative Commons project as a way of promoting access.12.2.3. It should also include the Culture Livre (Free Culture), a joint project between the Centre for Technology andSociety (CTS) in Brazil and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Learning Information Networking andKnowledge Centre in South Africa. The project has managed to bring Brazilian and South African artiststogether to promote the exchange of content.12.2.4. Such an institute should examine the research on open business practices emerging from technology andculture in the peripheral areas of Brazil in the Amazon and North Eastern regions of Brazil. Tecno-brega andfunk music have developed from these open business practices, showing how creativity occurs in these areas inan innovative way. There are parallels in China and Egypt. The research suggests that these new culturalbusiness models are specifically southern business models, based on the sharing and free dissemination ofinformation, and different from the traditional ideas connected to IP in developed countries. While the traditionalmusic industry launches only a few major international albums with a paucity of Brazilian artists, the openbusinessscenario in northern Brazil launches hundreds more albums from an array of artists, making thesystem more democratic. The first phase includes research projects from Colombia, Mexico, Argentina andNigeria.12.2.5. The institute should engage in action research, developing a means of monitoring and evaluation, and buildinggrassroots organisations focusing on IP.- 88 -