The implications of digitizing and the Internet for "fair use" in South Africa

• Main Author: Schonwetter, Tobias
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: en
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4548

This thesis is going to examine the scope of fair use / fair dealing in South Africa, especially within an academic context. It proceeds in 5 parts. Part I will deal with the question of whether an international standard for fair use exists from which any clarification regarding the scope of the fair use doctrine can be deduced. In part II, the legal situation in other countries and regions, namely South Africa's major trading partners U.S.A., Europe (EC/Germany/UK) and Australia will be described and compared. This is done in order to analyse whether or not their approaches can either be adopted by South Africa or, at least, serve as a model. In part III, the impacts of digitizing and the Internet for the fair use doctrine will be examined, and part IV will, in some detail, explore the rights and obligations of libraries in an increasingly digitised world. After summarizing parts II-IV, part V will draw a conclusion and seek possible solutions for South Africa.