{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12935"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12935","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The copyright protection of online user-generated content","abstract":"Online social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube allow creative works to be more easily copied and distributed. This type of content is generally referred to as user-generated content and its creation has become a major component of our daily routine. As a result, user-generated content has the potential to influence not just the nature of social interactions but methods of doing business. The advent of user-generated content poses new challenges to copyright law, the conventional medium of protecting these creative works. The global reach of the internet and the increasing ease of access thereto make infringement of original material more likely and more frequent. User-generated content is also surrounded by legal uncertainty in the areas of defamation and privacy. It is beyond the scope of this paper to deal in any depth with these issues. This dissertation will focus on the implications of user-generated content within the realm of copyright. Specifically, this paper examines whether South African copyright law, in its present state, adequately protect the rights and interests of content creators on one end and website owners and proprietors on the other. This assessment will be guided, in part, by judicial precedent and legislative policies adopted in other jurisdictions.","abstract_html":"Online social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube allow creative works to be more easily copied and distributed. This type of content is generally referred to as user-generated content and its creation has become a major component of our daily routine. As a result, user-generated content has the potential to influence not just the nature of social interactions but methods of doing business. The advent of user-generated content poses new challenges to copyright law, the conventional medium of protecting these creative works. The global reach of the internet and the increasing ease of access thereto make infringement of original material more likely and more frequent. User-generated content is also surrounded by legal uncertainty in the areas of defamation and privacy. It is beyond the scope of this paper to deal in any depth with these issues. This dissertation will focus on the implications of user-generated content within the realm of copyright. Specifically, this paper examines whether South African copyright law, in its present state, adequately protect the rights and interests of content creators on one end and website owners and proprietors on the other. This assessment will be guided, in part, by judicial precedent and legislative policies adopted in other jurisdictions.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mudau, Sipho"],"institution":"Intellectual Property Research Unit","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Schönwetter, Tobias"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014","date_published":"2014","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:02Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12935","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Schönwetter, Tobias"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mudau, Sipho"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2015-05-27T04:12:54Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-05-27T04:12:54Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Intellectual Property Research Unit"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Masters in Law"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12935"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Online social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube allow creative works to be more easily copied and distributed. This type of content is generally referred to as user-generated content and its creation has become a major component of our daily routine. As a result, user-generated content has the potential to influence not just the nature of social interactions but methods of doing business. The advent of user-generated content poses new challenges to copyright law, the conventional medium of protecting these creative works. The global reach of the internet and the increasing ease of access thereto make infringement of original material more likely and more frequent. User-generated content is also surrounded by legal uncertainty in the areas of defamation and privacy. It is beyond the scope of this paper to deal in any depth with these issues. This dissertation will focus on the implications of user-generated content within the realm of copyright. Specifically, this paper examines whether South African copyright law, in its present state, adequately protect the rights and interests of content creators on one end and website owners and proprietors on the other. This assessment will be guided, in part, by judicial precedent and legislative policies adopted in other jurisdictions."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The copyright protection of online user-generated content"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Schönwetter, Tobias"],"dc:creator":["Mudau, Sipho"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2015-05-27T04:12:54Z"],"dc:date.available":["2015-05-27T04:12:54Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references."],"dc:description.abstract":["Online social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube allow creative works to be more easily copied and distributed. This type of content is generally referred to as user-generated content and its creation has become a major component of our daily routine. As a result, user-generated content has the potential to influence not just the nature of social interactions but methods of doing business. The advent of user-generated content poses new challenges to copyright law, the conventional medium of protecting these creative works. The global reach of the internet and the increasing ease of access thereto make infringement of original material more likely and more frequent. User-generated content is also surrounded by legal uncertainty in the areas of defamation and privacy. It is beyond the scope of this paper to deal in any depth with these issues. This dissertation will focus on the implications of user-generated content within the realm of copyright. Specifically, this paper examines whether South African copyright law, in its present state, adequately protect the rights and interests of content creators on one end and website owners and proprietors on the other. This assessment will be guided, in part, by judicial precedent and legislative policies adopted in other jurisdictions."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12935"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Intellectual Property Research Unit"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["The copyright protection of online user-generated content"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["Masters in Law"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:02Z"}