Copyright protection of ringtones in South Africa

Abstract

In the wake of the current quicksilver advances in technology, generally speaking, intellectual property has had its share of the benefits, and losses, of the exploitation of online works. In copyright law, as in other aspects of intellectual property (Matheson and Bonny 2007, 20), the landscape in sound recording has changed. This article investigates four issues arising from these changes: first, the ease with which ringtones can be created using user-generated content (UGC) devices in contrast with analogue recording of ringtones; second, when copyright arises in ringtones; third, the composition of right holders in ringtones; and fourth, if there are any rights in ringtones, whether the Copyright Act of South Africa (hereafter the Act) adequately protects those rights from infringement, particularly in view of the economic benefits that can be derived from the exploitation of such rights in favour of ordinary users and historically disadvantaged individuals in South Africa.