Abstract
This study examines the interaction between copyright as protected by the right to property and the concept of parody as protected by the fair use doctrine and the right to freedom of expression – with particular reference to American and South African (SA) legislation and case law. While parody has been recognized as a valid defence and enacted in statutes in some jurisdictions, the South African copyright law has yet to incorporate this defence into its domestic law. In the meantime, there is a gap in South African law that makes it unclear how the courts should address this issue. With the contemporary steep levels of parody output, particularly on the internet, it is critical that the SA legislature addresses this issue sooner rather than later in order to not only conform to the rule of law, but to bring legal certainty.
This dissertation examines existing statutory provisions as well as jurisprudence on the application of parody in the United States of America (USA) and South Africa in order to determine which of the two jurisdictions best accommodates modern-day complexities. Because parody is a relatively new form of commentary, the study’s conclusion seeks to propose solutions borrowed from the USA law for the application of this defence.