Copyright reform · South Africa
Promoting the rights ofCreators
ReCreate brings together writers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, educators, librarians and researchers. We stand for the right to own, to earn and to create.
As creators, we are users of existing cultural products. We often do not own the work we create. And many of us have been disadvantaged by an exploitative system which fails to pay us for our work.
The archive
Eight years of campaigning, organised by category
Every part of the site is a blog category, so new work publishes straight to the front page.
What we do
Recent work
Our conferences, marches and research — the campaign as we ran it, not as it was reported.
International copyright conference 2025
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA HIGHLIGHTS THE URGENCY OF COPYRIGHT REFORMS The cost of excluding billions of people in Africa and the Global South from access to knowledge could be huge for future generations.…
Copyright and the Public Interest: Africa and the Global South Conference 2025
Hosted by ReCreate South Africa, this landmark international conference took place in Johannesburg (3 Feb) and Cape Town (6 Feb), bringing together voices from across the continent to spotlight the urgent need for copyright…
Right to Research in Africa
A Week of Debates on Copyright and Access to Knowledge in Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa from 23 – 27 January 2023 Join policymakers, academics and activists from across the continent. Including African…
Picket outside the US Embassy in Pretoria
Join ReCreateSA and Coalition partners to unite and DEMAND that the US stop its threats against South Africa over the Copyright Amendment and Performer Protection Amendment Bill.
ReCreate & BlindSA March on Union Buildings
Join ReCreateSA, BlindSA and other coalition members in marching on the Union buildings to demand that parliament return the Copyright Amendment and Performer Protection Amendment bills to the President, and that the President sign…
10 Dec 2020: Creators and Communities March for Fair Copyright
10 December 2020: Creators & Communities March for Fair Copyright On the 10th December, Recreate, BlindSA and other organisations marched demanding that Parliament passes and returns the Copyright Amendment, and the Performer Protection Amendment…
The campaign
The Copyright Amendment Bill
South Africa’s copyright law dates from 1978. The Amendment Bill would finally introduce fair use, exceptions for education, libraries and people with disabilities, and protections that let creators keep earning from their own work.
The record
Legal opinions, court papers and submissions
Thirty-six documents — senior counsel opinions, Constitutional Court papers and every formal submission ReCreate has made to Parliament — readable in full on this site and downloadable as PDFs.
The coalition
Partners, funders and allied organisations
ReCreate works alongside universities, research units and open-knowledge organisations across Africa and the Global South.
Our affiliates and partners Everyone supporting fair use Add your organisation