South African copyright law hurts deaf people

The author, Denise Rosemary Nicholson, argues that South African copyright law hurts deaf people. For example, copyright law prohibits people from translating books into South African Sign Language without permission. The copyright law also prohibits people from adding subtitles to a video without permission. Nicholson explains in further detail how South African copyright law hurts deaf people. Furthermore, she explains what teachers can or cannot do with copyrighted material in the classroom, and how this affects deaf learners. Additionally, she makes recommendations for how the law can be improved.

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As of 2018, the South African parliament was considering updated amendments to the South African Copyright Act of 1978. People reading Nicholson’s article may want to research more recent changes to the law.