ReCreate's Amicus Submission to the Constitutional Court in South Africa, May 2025

The Copyright Amendment Bill in South Africa aims to reform the copyright regime to provide additional rights to creators and users of copyrighted material. The main provisions for creators are a royalty right and increased control over commissioned works. For users, a series of exceptions and limitations are to be introduced.These include fair use for purposes such as education, personal use and research, as well as exceptions for libraries, archives and people with disabilities. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa referred the legislation to the Constitutional Court, primarily over concerns that the new rights for creators and users would constitute an “arbitrary deprivation of property” from rights holders (primarily publishers, broadcasters and other large corporations. ReCreate South Africa, a coalition of South African creators and users was admitted as amicus curiae to the court, to add its views on the legislation. In this document, ReCreate’s legal team sets out the key arguments, focused on the view that there can be no arbitrary deprivation of property where a law is being introduced to fulfill the rights of South Africans in a rational way through a law of general application. Abstract written by Ben Cashdan, convener of ReCreate.