Copyright is a set of exclusive legal rights granted to the author or creator of an original work that includes who has the rights to copy, distribute, adapt, perform and display the work in public.

Copyright protection is automatically granted, by law, to the creator of a work. Copyright also extends to unpublished work. If work is created by an employee, then the employer, typically, is the copyright holder. People wanting to make use of copyrighted material need to apply to the copyright holder for permission.

Authors and creators have these exclusive rights in terms of the SA Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978 (as amended):

• To reproduce the work in any manner or form;

• To publish the work if it has not been published before;

• To perform the work in public;

• To broadcast the work;

• To cause the work to be transmitted in a diffusion service;

• To make an adaptation of the work.

Authors and creators of intellectual property get to be compensated for the work they created. Copyright only protects the work that is in a material format. Ideas and thoughts are not protected until the creator or author expresses them. Anything that is produced or published and copyrighted in print, is also copyrighted in electronic forms. There is no copyright on facts, daily news, or political speeches.