Q:

What are defined as goods breaking copyright laws and how are they determined?

I read https://south-africa.visahq.com/customs/#!import-regulations . In the Prohibited section it is written 
• Goods breaking copyrights laws
now my lappy does have a variety of movies, music and games, it is next to impossible to provide a history of each and every game/movie that I ever purchased/downloaded or was gifted from people. 
I could of course encrypt that entire partition, i.e. one option but would like to have more clarity on the above.  

A:

That's aiming more at preventing the import of things like fake-branded or illegally copied goods to be sold in SA, for example a box full of ripped-off DVDs or articles of clothing with trademarked branding (like the Nike swoosh) which aren't made or sold by the real manufacturer.  
The customs official is not going to have you power up your laptop and expect you prove you've got legal copies of everything on it, nor is he going to inspect your luggage to somehow check that your fancy shoes really are the 'real thing'.  
While returning SA residents might be subjected to a little extra scrutiny by customs because they want to ensure that SA residents pay the appropriate import duties & tax on goods they purchase out of the country (I've been in that situation & had to prove that my laptop was purchased in SA before I traveled), a tourist who is expected to take everything he brings in back home with him is unlikely to be subjected to the same scrutiny.

A:

Actually, there is a risk, albeit very low, that you could get in trouble. First, you do have to switch your laptop on upon request, at least in some countries:

The government guidelines say passengers carrying devices which they cannot switch on "face not being allowed to bring the device onto the aircraft". Passengers would then have to choose between charging the device if possible, leaving it behind (see below) or not getting on their flight.

You may have get away by saying "I lost my charger" if the security officer is kind enough (and provided the charger isn't right there in the bag). But there is no guarantee this will work as the airport security is within their rights to confiscate your laptop in that case.
Second, illegal software/movies have to be discovered on your laptop. In practice, your laptop rarely will be checked at all, unless you draw attention for other reasons (e.g. look like a guy on a red-corner notice). Of course, you may still get in trouble if you have a media player open with a movie watermarked with "not for distribution" labels, or a torrent client running. If a movie or a game on your laptop look reasonably genuine, it's inconceivable for the airport security to verify its origins.
So I wouldn't worry about it so much, but reasonable precautions wouldn't hurt. Keeping your "x-files" on an encrypted drive is a bit of an overkill, but it's not that unreasonable, considering how little effort it requires.

