Case Notes: Media 24 Books (Pty) Ltd v Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd 2017 (2) SA 1 (SCA)

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Citation: (2017) 29 SA Merc LJ 560
• Pages: 560-568
• Date: 20 August 2019
• Published date: 20 August 2019

MEDIA 24 BOOKS (PTY) LTD V OXFORD

UNIVERSITY PRESS SOUTHERN AFRICA

(PTY) LTD 2017 (2) SA 1 (SCA): CASE NOTE

RICHARD M SHAY*

Senior Lecturer, Department of Mercantile Law, University of South

Africa

The issue of direct copyright infringement was recently brought before

the Supreme Court of Appeal in Media 24 Books (Pty) Ltd v Oxford

University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd 2017 (2) SA 1 (SCA). The

appellant, a publishing house, published an English-Afrikaans bilingual

dictionary called ‘Pharos Aanleerderswoordeboek’ (‘Pharos Learner’s

Dictionary’) aimed at school learners, an updated version of its 1993

publication ‘Tweetalige Aanleerderswoordeboek’ (‘Bilingual Learner’s

Dictionary’). Shortly thereafter, the respondent published a competing

bilingual dictionary titled ‘Oxford Afrikaans-Engels/English-Afrikaans

Skool Woordeboek’. Both the appellant’s and the respondent’s publica-

tions ranged between 4 000 and 5 000 words and contained only basic

vocabulary. During 2011, the appellant decided to update its second

edition publication and began preparations by consulting competing

dictionaries available on the market with the aim of establishing how its

competitors had compiled their publications. During this exercise, the

appellant discovered that the respondent’s publication had substantial

similarities to its 2006 dictionary. The appellant consequently instituted

motion proceedings against the respondent in the Western Cape High

Court. It alleged direct infringement of its literary work. Gamble J

dismissed the application (Media 24 Books (Pty) Ltd v Oxford University

Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd (23368/12) [2015] ZAWCHC 68, [2015]

3 All SA 478 (WCC)), leading to this appeal.

Wallis JA commenced by considering the processes involved in

compiling a dictionary of this nature and scope, which consisted of core

vocabulary of both languages contained as alphabetically arranged

headwords with the corresponding word provided in the alternate

*LLB LLM (Stell).

560

(2017) 29 SA Merc LJ 560

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