UNTERHALTER AJ
“A beneficiary person is a person who:
(a)
is blind;
(b)
has a visual impairment or a perceptual or reading disability which cannot be improved
to give visual function substantially equivalent to that of a person who has no such
impairment or disability and so is unable to read printed works to substantially the same
degree as a person without an impairment or disability; or
(c)
is otherwise unable, through physical disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to
focus or move the eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading;
regardless of any other disabilities.” (Footnotes omitted.)
[48]
While Blind SA’s submissions reference the works eligible for copyright listed
in section 2 of the Copyright Act and, in general terms, the nature of copyright
protection afforded these works under the Copyright Act, it is literary works that engage
Blind SA’s concern. These works, published in print, include books, magazines,
periodicals, articles, textbooks and other educational materials. Blind SA observes that
copyright in a literary work vests the exclusive right to do or to authorise the doing of
acts set out in section 6 of the Copyright Act. Save for certain legislated exceptions,
the use of literary works by recourse to acts which the copyright owner has the exclusive
right to do or to authorise requires the consent of the copyright owner.
[49]
Blind SA sets out the following evidence in its founding affidavit before the
High Court:
“The vast majority of books are published in print, and not in formats that are accessible
to persons with visual (and print) disabilities. As the [World Intellectual Property
Organization] Handbook on the Marrakesh VIP Treaty explains:
‘285 million people worldwide are blind or visually impaired. 90% of
them live on low incomes in developing and least developed countries.
Only 1-7% of books are published in a format they can read.’
...
According to a Statistics South Africa census conducted in 2011, 11% of
South Africa’s population lives with visual disabilities – with 1.7% living with severe
visual disabilities, and 9.3% living with mild visual disabilities.
21