| (1) | Any person or licensing body intending to act as a representative collecting society and |
| (a) | administering on behalf of 50 or more copyright owners, or on behalf of an organisation representing 50 or more copyright owners, the right to receive payment of a royalty in terms of section 9A of the Copyright Act, 1978; or |
| (b) | administering on behalf of 50 or more performers, or on behalf of an organisation representing 50 or more performers, the right to receive payment of a royalty in terms of section 5(1)(b) of the Performers' Protection Act, 1967; or |
| (c) | administering on behalf of 50 or more copyright owners and performers jointly, or on behalf of an organisation representing 50 or more copyright owners and performers jointly, the right to receive payment of a royalty as contemplated in paragraphs (a) and (b) above |
requires an accreditation from the Registrar in order to be authorised to function as a collecting society established under the Copyright Act, 1978.
| (2) | Any person or licensing body claiming the right to act as a representative collecting society shall lodge a written application with the Registrar for accreditation. The Registrar shall consider the written application together with any other relevant documents. The Registrar may for the purposes of issuing an accreditation under these regulations consult with any person or institution before granting or refusing to grant accreditation. |
| (3) | The Registrar shall not grant accreditation to an applicant unless he or she is satisfied that— |
| (a) | it appears from the particulars supporting the application and the information considered that the applicant is able to ensure adequate, efficient and effective administration throughout the Republic of the rights to be entrusted to the collecting society for administration; |
| (b) | membership is open to copyright owners or their licensees and/or to performers whose rights the applicant seeks to administer and/or to organisations representing such copyright owners or licensees and/or performers; |
| (c) | the applicant affords to copyright owners or their licensees and/or to performers, or to organisations representing copyright owners or licensees and/or performers an appropriate right and opportunity to take part in decision making concerning the affairs of the applicant and the administration of the rights in question, as well as the distribution of royalties to be received; |
| (d) | the applicant is able to comply with the obligations set out in these Regulations (chapter 2); |
| (e) | the person or persons appointed as representatives, managers and members of the governing body of the applicant are fit or proper persons to act as such and are in their majority South African citizens or permanent residents; |
| (f) | the principal place of business in respect of rights administered in the Republic is situated in the Republic; |
| (g) | the accreditation of the applicant does not conflict with, undermine or diminish the adequate, efficient and effective administration of the right to receive payment of a royalty in terms of section 9A of the Copyright Act, 1978, or section 5(1)(b) of the Performers' Protection Act, 1967, as undertaken by a collecting society already accredited and established under the Copyright Act, 1978. |
| (4) | Within thirty days from the lodging of the application, the Registrar shall— |
| (a) | grant accreditation authorising the applicant to act as a collecting society established under the Copyright Act, 1978, if the Registrar is satisfied that the requirements referred to in subregulation (3) are met; or |
| (b) | provisionally refuse to grant accreditation, if the Registrar is not satisfied that the requirements referred to in subregulation (3) are met, but if, in the opinion of the Registrar, the applicant may modify and/or supplement the application in a manner that would satisfy the requirements; or |
| (c) | refuse to grant accreditation, if the Registrar is not satisfied that the requirements referred to in subregulation (3) are met, and within thirty days of notifying the applicant of the refusal to grant accreditation, the Registrar shall furnish the applicant with the reasons for refusing in writing. |
| (d) | In the case of a provisional refusal to grant accreditation as contemplated in paragraph (b), the Registrar shall within thirty days of notifying the applicant of the provisional refusal furnish the applicant with the reasons for the provisional refusal in writing and grant the applicant a further period of not less than thirty days to submit a modified and/or supplemented application, and/or such further particulars as may be required. Thereafter the Registrar shall grant or refuse the application as provided for in paragraph (a) or (c) of subregulation (4). |
| (5) | An accreditation shall be granted for a term of five years and shall subsequently be renewable for further periods of five years. Six months prior to the expiry of a five-year term, a collecting society established under the Copyright Act, 1978, may apply for a renewal. The provisions of subregulations (3) and (4) shall apply mutatis mutandis to such a renewal application. |
| (6) | The Registrar may withdraw an accreditation granted if— |
| (a) | the collecting society failed to disclose material facts that, if known at the time of accreditation, would have constituted cause for a refusal of the accreditation; or |
| (b) | the Registrar becomes aware of facts unknown at the time of accreditation or of subsequent occurrences which, if placed before him or her prior to a decision in regard to the granting of accreditation, would have constituted a ground for refusal of accreditation and cannot be remedied within a time period to be fixed by the Registrar; or |
| (c) | in the opinion of the Registrar, the collecting society commits |
| (i) | a material breach of its obligations; or |
| (ii) | continues to breach the obligations set out in this regulation and ignores directions given to it by the Registrar regarding any such breaches. |
The Registrar shall notify the collecting society in writing of the withdrawal and shall furnish reasons in support of his or her decision.
| (7) | The grant, renewal, refusal or non-renewal, and the withdrawal of an accreditation shall be published in the Government Gazette by General Notice, and may also be published in the South African Intellectual Property Journal for notification. |
| (8) | The grant, renewal, refusal or non-renewal, and the withdrawal of an accreditation shall be subject to judicial review on application to the High Court of South Africa, Transvaal Provincial Division (TPD), brought within three months after publication. |
