Copyright registration in Morocco. Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the Northwesternmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Morocco’s economy is considered a relatively liberal economy governed by the law of supply and demand. During the beginning of the 21st century, the Government of Morocco has conducted many sharp reforms which turned the Moroccan economy to become much more robust compared to the old days. In addition, tourism is also one of the most important sectors in the Moroccan economy. It is well developed with a strong tourist industry focused on the country’s coast, culture, and history. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of copyright registration in Morocco.
Copyright in Morocco
Unlike other intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents, industrial designs, plant varieties, etc., copyright does not need to be registered for protection but will be automatically protected from the time the works are created.
The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.
Accordingly, whether registered or not, the copyright to the work will still be protected. However, the creator should still apply for copyright registration in Morocco early because early registration will give the author/owner of the work many advantages in the event of a dispute.
When unauthorized use of work occurs around the world, the owner of a work who has made a copyright registration in Morocco will not have to waste time and complicate matters with proving himself/herself to be the legitimate owner of the work.
Thereby, in order to avoid passivity, the owner of the work should make a copyright registration in Morocco immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Morocco
Morocco is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 1917.
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (the Berne Convention) is an international agreement governing copyright. The agreement was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.
As Morocco is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Morocco will be given copyright protection in each of the Berne Convention member countries.
In most countries, copyright protection is automatic as soon as the work existed in material form. However, the copyright registration in Morocco is critical in order for the copyright owner to obtain evidence of copyright.
Evidence of copyright is extremely important even when the works are automatically protected according to copyright law.
When registering, the work will get an application submission date, as well as information about the creation and proof of creative concept and development. This provides unambiguous proof of authorship and ownership that can’t be denied.
Proof of copyright is essential in an age when the publishing, dissemination, and theft of material is extremely easy with the exposure of the Internet.
If copyright registration is not made, copyright owners will lose a big amount of money as well as time needed to resolve issues related to copyright, proving ownership of the original work.
If the copyright owner has already registered for copyright protection to the IP office, they would have a strong legal foundation which would increase their chance of winning against the violating parties.
Documents for copyright registration in Morocco
To obtain copyright registration in Morocco, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Morocco;
- Two copies of copyrighted work;
- Documents proving the right to apply;
- Written consent of co-authors, if the work has co-authors;
- Written consent of the co-owners, if the copyright is jointly owned;
- Notarized identity card of the author or owner of the work;
- Power of Attorney, if the applicant is an authorized person;
- Notarized copy of the company’s business registration certificate (if the owner is a company).
The copyright law of Morocco
Morocco has been a member of the Berne Convention since 16 June 1917, the World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995 and the WIPO Copyright Treaty since 20 July 2011.
As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 2-00 on Copyright and Related Rights (promulgated by Dahir No. 1-00-20 of 9 Kaada 1420 (February 15, 2000)) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Morocco. This law was modified by Dahir No. 1-05-192 of 15 Moharrem 1427 (14 February 2006) enacting Law No. 34-05 amending and supplementing Law No. 2-00 on Copyright and Related Rights.
WIPO holds the text of the law as amended in 2006 in their WIPO Lex database. The 2006 law replaced and repealed Dahir No. 1-69-135 of 25 joumada I 1390 (July 29, 1970), relating to the protection of literary and artistic works. It was not retroactive, and does not apply to works that had already entered the public domain.
You can see a list of Morocco IP firms here.