Constitutionalising copyright : a principled normative theory for transformative copyright adjudication

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dc.contributor.advisorBotha, Henken_ZA
dc.contributor.authorShay, Richard Michaelen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Law. Dept. of Public Law.en_ZA
dc.date2023-03-07T17:30:14Z
dc.date2023-08-30T13:10:12Z
dc.date2023-03-07
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-07T17:30:14Z
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-31T09:18:37Z
dc.date.available2023-03-07T17:30:14Z
dc.date.available2023-08-31T09:18:37Z
dc.date.issued2023-03
dc.descriptionThesis (LLD) -- Stellenbosch University, 2023.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation investigates South African copyright law from a constitutional vantage point, specifically the role of adjudicators in effecting transformation of this realm of statutory law. Copyright law in South Africa long predates the advent of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, and the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 has seen sparse revision since its initial promulgation. While the constitutional mode of adjudication requires substantive reasoning and value-based interpretation to facilitate the transformation of all law under the single-system-of-law principle, this modality has yet to permeate the copyright context. The formalistic mode of reasoning employed in copyright adjudication arguably perpetuates an independent normative sphere in which property and trade looms large, accompanied by an array of interpretive canons and conventions that are a product of the erstwhile conservative legal culture that characterised South African legal interpretation prior to the constitutional era. Ronald Dworkin’s theory of Law as Integrity is discussed as a candidate reading strategy for courts engaged in transformative interpretation of South African law. Dworkin’s interpretive model of constructive interpretation is found compatible with the constitutional mandate to adopt a value-based strategy intent on “promot[ing] the spirit, purport and object of the Bill of Rights, as section 39(2) instructs. Furthermore, Dworkin’s dignity-based theory comports with the South African iterations of the fundamental triumvirate of “[h]uman dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms”, entrenched in section 1(a) and reinforced by section 39(1). Likewise, the Constitutional Court jurisprudence on the question of direct horizontal application of the rights in the Bill of Rights could be read to suggest that Dworkin’s normative approach may assist in defining the scope and ambit of duties between private parties, notably when the legal relationship is mediated by copyright law. Dworkin’s view of law as fidelity to the mandate of dignity through interpretation is ported to the copyright setting by relying on the taxonomical theory of intellectual property propounded by Robert Merges, comprising the trichotomy of justificatory foundations, midlevel principles, and practical doctrine. These concepts are reformulated to reflect a normatively responsive, principled account of adjudication in the South African situation.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif ondersoek Suid-Afrikaanse outeursreg vanuit 'n grondwetlike oogpunt, in die besonder beoordelaars se rol in die transformasie van hierdie gebied van statutêre reg. Outeursregwetgewing in Suid-Afrika dateer terug na lank voor die koms van die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, 1996, en die Wet of Outeursreg 98 van 1978 is yl hersien sedert die aanvanklike promulgering daarvan. Terwyl die grondwetlike wyse van beoordeling substantiewe redenering en waardegebaseerde interpretasie vereis om die transformasie van alle wette onder die enkeleregstelsel-beginsel te fasiliteer, moet hierdie modaliteit nog die outeursregkonteks deurdring. Die formalistiese manier van redeneer wat in outeursregberegting aanwending vind hou 'n onafhanklike normatiewe sfeer voor waarin eiendom en handel groots voorkom, gepaardgaande met 'n verskeidenheid interpretatiewe kanons en konvensies wat 'n produk is van die destydse konserwatiewe regskultuur wat Suid-Afrikaanse regsinterpretasie gekenmerk het voor die grondwetlike era. Ronald Dworkin se teorie van “Law as Integrity” word bespreek as 'n kandidaat-leesstrategie vir howe wat betrokke is by transformatiewe interpretasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse reg. Dworkin se interpretatiewe model van konstruktiewe interpretasie word versoenbaar gevind met die grondwetlike mandaat om 'n waarde-gebaseerde strategie aan te neem wat bedoel is om die gees, strekking en doel van die Handves van Regte te bevorder, soos artikel 39(2) voorskryf. Verder stem Dworkin se menswaardigheids-gebaseerde teorie ooreen met die Suid-Afrikaanse iterasies van die fundamentele driemanskap van “menswaardigheid, die bereiking van gelykheid en die uitbou van menseregte en vryhede”, verskans in artikel 1(a) en versterk deur artikel 39(1). Net so kan die Konstitusionele Hof-regspraak oor die kwessie van direkte horisontale toepassing van die regte in die Handves van Regte gelees word om te suggereer dat Dworkin se normatiewe benadering kan help om die bestek en omvang van pligte tussen private partye te definieer, veral wanneer die regsverhouding deur outeursregwetgewing bemiddel word. Dworkin se siening van die reg as getrouheid aan die mandaat van waardigheid deur interpretasie word na die outeursregomgewing oorgedra deur te steun op die taksonomiese teorie van intellektuele eiendom wat deur Robert Merges voorgehou word, bestaande uit die drie elemente van regverdigende grondslae, middelvlakbeginsels en praktiese leerstelling. Hierdie konsepte word geherformuleer om 'n normatief responsiewe, beginselgedrewe weergawe van beregting in Suid-Afrika te weerspieël.af_ZA
dc.description.versionDoctoralen_ZA
dc.embargo.terms2023-09-07
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.format.extentix, 318 pagesen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128405
dc.languageen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshCopyright -- Law and legislation -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshSouth Africa Copyright Act, 1978en_ZA
dc.subject.lcshCopyright -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshIntellectual property -- Law and legislation -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshDworkin, Ronalden_ZA
dc.subject.lcshConstitutional law -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.nameUCTD
dc.subject.otherTransformative constitutionalismen_ZA
dc.titleConstitutionalising copyright : a principled normative theory for transformative copyright adjudicationen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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