SABC, SASFED, IPO in joint research project

The four-month research will be conducted by Mkhabela, Huntley Adekeye Attorneys, with the assistance from Spoor and Fisher Attorneys. Apart from SA, the research is set to be done in countries such as Brazil, Canada, India, UK and US. But, it has been established that the researchers might appoint local consultants in the areas where they won't be travelling in, due to the project's tight deadlines.

Reflect international best practice

The aim of the project is to ensure the interaction and procurement practices in SA between the public broadcaster and the independent production sector reflects international best practice, including the issue of intellectual property rights. It also aims at bolstering local content industries by ensuring that commercial opportunities are fully exploited.

“This historical agreement will not only benefit the SABC but the industry as a whole, as the proceeds of the research will be put into formal guidelines that will lay the ground foundation and create a framework on how we will sell and export our products,” SABC group executive for content enterprise Mvuzo Mbebe said.

Mbebe said that this agreement is also in line with the act that stipulates that the SABC should be actively involved in the development of the industry.

Asked whether the agreement includes creative areas such as music, literary work and others, SABC's Thandiwe Mathibela replied, “Not at all. From now, only TV and film are concerned but of course at time goes by it will be extended to other aspects of the creative industry.”

Two phases

The research's first phase will consist of desktop research into legal and commercial practice including in respect of rights to exploit the works, sub-licencing, cooling-off periods and revenue-sharing arrangements for both traditional and new media technologies, in relation to:

• TV content procurement practices as between public broadcasting companies and the independent production sectors in countries to be researched, and
  
• The regulation of intellectual property rights as between public broadcasters and independent production sectors in those countries in relation to TV content procured.

The second phase, however, will consist of travelling in the UK to undertake an in-depth analysis of legal and commercial practice in relation to that country's procurement practices and property rights' regulations. This phase will be supported by some research from Canada, India and the US.

The last phase will be made up of the preparation of the final report to contain the recommendations of the consultants focusing on two discrete issues, namely modifying the current procurement relationship between the parties, or if any, making overall policy changes and proposing amendments to the SA's intellectual property statutes.

Legal team

Rehad Desai, SASFED chairperson, said that the legal team that will undertake the research has a lot of experience in terms of broadcasting and has a comprehensive knowledge of how the SABC works. “We are quite confident that the team will produce a good report that will move us forward.”

Helena Spring, IPO executive member, said: “We commend the SABC for providing the financial muscles to undertake such as an important project, and we look forward to the day we will celebrate the implementation of these regulations.”

Asked about the cost of the project, Mbebe flatly declined to be drawn into this matter, saying that it is strictly confidential.

Asked how the agreement will affect e.tv and M-Net, as they were not consulted for this research, Mbebe said he had no doubt that once the agreement is implemented, they will start engaging new players in the purpose of bringing them on board.