South Africa, Nov. 11 -- IP law relies heavily on royalty mechanisms to facilitate the lawful exploitation of protected works. Whether in the form of copyright royalties for literary and artistic works, patent royalties for technological innovations, or trade mark royalties for brand licensing and franchising.

This article explores recent royalty disputes, including those involving Tyla, and the creators of Hamba Juba, with commentary on South Africa's legal frameworks.

What are royalties?

Royalties are recurring payments made to the owner or licensor of IP for the use of that IP by another party. In South African law, royalties are typically governed by:

Under South African law, copyright protection arises automatically upon the crea...