Case Note: Blind SA v Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition and Others [2002] ZACC 33

• Citation: (2022) IPLJ 131
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SAIPLJ/v10/a6
• Published date: 23 February 2023
• Pages: 131-143
• Author: Zungu, B.
• Date: 23 February 2023

131

https://doi.org/10.47348/SAIPLJ/v10/a6

CASE NOTE: BLIND SA v MINISTER

OF TRADE, INDUSTRY AND

COMPETITION AND OTHERS [2002]

ZACC 33

 

Lecturer in Comm ercial Law, University of Cape Town

ABST RAC T

Materials u nder copyright, s uch as books and other l iterary works, a re essential for hum an

development and well-bei ng. Accessing the i nformation c ontained in t hese materia ls is

relatively straig htforward for sight ed individua ls, but for persons w ith print and v isual

disabilities , access is a challenge and often cos tly. The barrie r to accessing information

threaten s various const itutional rights of persons w ith print and visual disabi lities. The

threatene d rights include t he right of access t o informat ion, the right to e ducation, the

right to equal ity and the rig ht to human dig nity. South Afr ica has been unde rgoing a

process of copyr ight reform for over 15 years t o remedy the violat ion of these rights.

         

the matter t hus warrant ed the inter vention of the apex cou rt in Blind SA v Mi nister of

Trade, Industry and Competition and Others   

the regulat ion of copyright in South Af rica to provide context. T he note then analyses the

Constitut ional Court’s decision and considers t he decision of the court a quo to provide

some backgrou nd on the matter. The note ends w ith an analysis of the implicat ions of the

judgment for per sons with print and visu al disabilities and a dis cussion of issues that the

court did not co nsider.

  

The Copyr ight Act1 and its Regulations2 govern copy right in South Afr ica.

South Africa is also a pa rty to several t reaties on copyright, not ably the

Berne Convention for the Protection of Litera ry and Ar tistic Works (the

Berne Convention).3 The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intelle ctual

Property R ights (TRIPS Ag reement) also impacts copyr ight-related matters

and is thus import ant in this regard.4 These instr uments require Sout h Africa

        

0000-0002-0308-4188.

1 Act 98 of 1978.

2 Copyright Act Reg ulations (GN R2530 in GG 6252 of 22 Decembe r 1987).

3 Berne Convention for the P rotection of Literary an d Artistic Works: Texts, 9 September 1886,

revised at Par is 24 July 1971, 1161 United Nations, Treaty S eries 3. The Berne Conve ntion is the

primar y internationa l agreement coverin g copyright protect ion.

4 Agreement on Trad e-Related Asp ects of Intellec tual Prope rty Rig hts, Including Tra de in

Counterfeit G oods, adopted 15 Dec ember 1993, entered int o force 1 January 1995, (1994) 33 ILM

81. The TRIPS agre ement is an internat ional agreement adm inistered by the WTO. T he TRIPS

agreement es tablishes mi nimum requ irements for co pyright and ot her forms of int ellectual

propert y. The substantive pr ovisions of TRI PS and the obligation s of the Berne Conve ntion

are simila r. The similarities and ke y differences betwee n the Berne Convention and T RIPS are

beyond the scope of th is note. For more information, se e K Bhardwa ‘Protection of copyrig ht

(2022) IPLJ 131

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd