Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978)RegulationsCollecting Society Regulations, 2006Chapter 1 : Supervision4. Powers and funcitons of the Registrar |
| (1) | The Registrar shall exercise a supervisory function in regard to collecting societies in accordance with the Copyright Act, 1978, the Performers' Protection Act, 1967, and these Regulations. |
| (2) | The Registrar shall keep a register of all accredited collecting societies established under the Copyright Act, 1978, and these Regulations, and shall ensure that these collecting societies shall discharge their obligations under the law. The Registrar shall be invited to attend annual or special general meetings of the members of an accredited collecting society and shall receive an annual activity report from each collecting society, setting out information on its activities, financial records and such other records as may be necessary to assess the degree of compliance of the collecting society with these Regulations, and with the Copyright Act, 1978 and Performers Protection Act, 1967. Such report shall be submitted within thirty days of the end of the financial year of such collecting society. |
| (3) | An accredited collecting society shall keep the Registrar informed at all times as to its organisational structure and operational features, and also in regard to changes concerning the persons entitled by law or in terms of their organisational structures to represent it, by way of written notification given to the Registrar, such notification to be given within thirty days of the occurrence of a change. In particular, an accredited collecting society shall furnish the Registrar with: |
| (a) | copies of the memorandum and articles of association, trust deed, founding documents, articles of incorporation, reciprocal agreements with foreign collecting societies, or any similar document setting out the basic organisational structure of the collecting society, including the name and address of its auditors; |
| (b) | notice of any amendments or changes to the documents referred to in paragraph 4(3)(a), together with a report setting out succinctly the reasons for the amendment or change; |
| (c) | tariffs set by the collecting society for potential users or user groups, and any amendments thereto; |
| (d) | annually, an up-to-date list of members; |
| (e) | annually, an up-to-date list of agreements with foreign collecting societies; |
| (f) | annual audited financial statements; and |
| (g) | any documentation or report that the Registrar may reasonably require. |
| (4) | In the event that a collecting society does not comply with its obligations under this Regulation, the Registrar may stipulate an appropriate time period of not less than thirty days but not more than ninety days for the collecting society to remedy the situation. Should the collecting society fail to comply within such time period, the Registrar may do one or both of the following: |
| (a) | withdraw the collecting society's accreditation; and/or |
| (b) | apply to court for any appropriate relief, including relief in terms of the common law or the law governing the entity acting as collecting society, and including but not limited to relief by placing the collecting society under judicial management, or by seeking the winding-up or dissolution of the collecting society. |