Abstract: | This article traces the historical development of the remedies available when infringement of rights under copyright occurs. It states and compares the development in the four Commonwealth jurisdictions of England, Australia, Canada and South Africa. Until the most recent South African legislation was promulgated in 1992, copyright legislation in South Africa was a virtual reprint of equivalent British provisions. In this wholesale adoption, English remedies unknown to South African common law were incorporated in South African legislation. This has resulted in enormous confusion as to the extent and application of such remedies. The attempted importation of English remedies has, moreover, been of disservice to South African plaintiffs. In all instances, South African courts have rejected remedies which are unknown in South African common law. The failure of the legislature to define the various remedies it has attempted to introduce is the root of the problem and has led to the rejection of account and the remedies of conversion and detention. Notes, ref. |