Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698834169263.pdf (South Africa)
African Library and Information Associations and Institutions(AfLIA) Association Africaine des Bibliothèques et des Institutions d’Information Associação Africana de Bibliotecas e Instituições de Informação CSIR-INSTI Building, CSIR Headquarters, P.O.
Box BC 38, Burma Camp, Accra, Ghana 5th July 2021 To: Mr. D Nkosi, Chairperson: Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, Parliament For ATTENTION: Mr A. Hermans, Ms M. Sheldon, Ms. Y. Manakaza, Mr. T. Madima, via email: Dear Honourable Member Nkosi, Re: Submission on Copyright Amendment Bill [B-13B of 2017] I am writing on behalf the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA).

We represent libraries and librarians and the communities that they serve in Africa.
Thank you for this opportunity to make written comments on Sections 12A, B, C and D, and Sections 19B and C of the 2017 Bill.

AfLIA promotes and supports copyright legislation, which achieves an equitable balance between the rights of creators and the needs of users through fair and reasonable access.
In July 2018, our Association, together with the SA Department of Arts and Culture organised a 2-day round table meeting in Durban, where we brought Ministers responsible for libraries in Africa to deliberate on the relevance of libraries in national development.

At the end of the meeting, the Durban Communique, which committed to putting libraries on the front burner in national development was issued.
This was further strengthened by another meeting of Ministers responsible for Libraries held in Accra in October 2019 with the Accra Declaration.

As you are aware, copyright represents a major area of interest for libraries.

The ability of our institutions to fulfil their missions to promote education, innovation, culture, and access to information which are crucial for the fulfilment of the AU 2063 and United Nations 2030 Agendas, depend on having the right exceptions and limitations to copyright.
In the said Communique, Minister Nathi Mthethwa and other African ministers recognised the importance of “ensuring and protecting intellectual property rights including copyright and neighbouring rights laws and balanced implementation”.

The Communique was a follow-up from the Cape Town Declaration in 2015, which Minister Mthethwa signed with other African ministers committing to “encourage the implementation of fair and balanced copyright laws to facilitate access to information”.
AfLIA and our members across Africa have followed closely the progress of our South African sisters and brothers in their copyright reform efforts.

We can see emerging, in South Africa, a new best practice, which will ensure that libraries and other information services can fully serve the needs of their users, without causing unjustified prejudice to right holders.

We believe that the Copyright Amendment Bill will help to achieve this.

Connecting Africa's library and information communities