This discussion (hosted by LES South Africa's Copyright Committee) will be about the first ever compulsory copyright licence being granted by the Copyright Tribunal in a commercial dispute in South Africa.
The Applicants in the matter were Allcopy Publishers (Pty) Ltd (“Allcopy”) and two of the authors of the relevant publications. The Respondent was the remaining author (Mr Phillips) who was refusing to grant an extension of the licence.
The judgment in the was handed down by Moshoana J early in March 2025. The compulsory licence was granted in respect of a range of Grade 8 and 9 High School mathematics textbooks to the Applicants.
By way of brief background, the South African Copyright Act makes provision for the granting of compulsory licences in certain circumstances. More specifically, one can approach the Copyright Tribunal for an order compelling the provision of a licence where it is being unreasonably withheld. In this instance, there were 4 authors who contributed to the relevant works and 3 of them wanted to remain in a licensing arrangement with Allcopy, whereas the remaining author was withholding his consent for a further licence. Mr Phillips instituted proceedings for copyright infringement relief and that particular application was then stayed pending the outcome before the Copyright Tribunal, who found in the Applicant’s favour. The Respondent has subsequently sought leave to appeal both the stay and the compulsory licence applications.
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