In developing the copyright law in the Republic of Mozambique, the following circumstances were taken into account: The Republic of Mozambique was a former Portuguese colony that gained independence since 1975. Upon the establishment of independence, the state was oriented towards the socialist path of development. When reorienting the economy to the planned adoption of copyright laws was not a primary goal. In addition, in Mozambique, writing in the native language was only in its infancy; Portuguese-language publications dominated the market. This left an imprint on the law being developed later, its section on licensing of translations.
| Mozambique Copyright Act | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Adoption | February 27, 2001 |
| Entry into force | May 28, 2001 |
In 1967, when considering the Berne Convention , discussions were held about the copyright to the works of folklore . African countries have raised a question aimed at protecting their cultural heritage, which is sometimes exploited by Western countries without any adequate compensation to local communities. Representatives of Western countries objected that folklore falls outside the scope of copyright, because the Copyright Law recognizes individual copyright creations, while folklore is understood as an expression of the national spirit and collective source.
In 2007, the Government of Mozambique approved a national intellectual property strategy and plan of action to finalize copyright laws. The national strategy was discussed in a wider public community, including representatives from the public and private sectors, academic institutions, rights holders and civil society representatives. The intellectual property strategy should represent the interests of all these stakeholders, serve the national interests for the economic, social, technological, scientific and cultural development of the country.
Content
Contents of the Law 2001
The Copyright Act, passed in 2001, includes 79 articles and annexes with 32 definitions.
The Copyright Law sets out the types of works that are protected by copyright, namely:
- written works, including computer programs;
- lectures , addresses, sermons and other works consisting of words or expressed orally;
- musical works, with or without accompanying words;
- dramatic and musical dramatic works;
- choreographic works and pantomimes ;
- audiovisual works;
- works of fine art, including drawings, paintings, sculptures, prints and lithographs;
- works of architecture;
- photographic works;
- works of applied art;
- illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works related to geography, topography, architecture or science;
- folklore works.
The law also applies to collections of works, compositions from works, which, in turn, are objects of intellectual property. These are collections of works, their adaptation, arrangement or other processing from original works.
The Mozambique Copyright Act in paragraph 41 (1) also protects related rights — rights to perform works, phonograms , videograms, and broadcast programs.
In Articles 7 and 8, the Copyright Act deals with property and personal non-property rights. According to article 7, property rights include reproduction, translation, arrangements and other changes to a work, article 8 lists the following personal non-property rights:
- the right to demand recognition of his authorship of his works;
- the right to anonymity or the use of pseudonyms;
- rights from any distortion, alteration, humiliating actions that may harm his honor or reputation.
The Berne Convention and TRIPs41 include a number of provisions regarding exceptions and limitations to property rights, but left the application of these provisions to the discretion of each country. There are three categories of exceptions and limitations:
- Those that protect the fundamental rights of users. Example: reproduction of public speaking, the right to receive quotes, reports on current events, a parody and reproduction for personal non-commercial use;
- Those related to commercial interest, industry practices and competition. Examples: press reviews, recordings of broadcasting organizations, museum catalogs, and compilation of computer program engineering;
- Those that relate to society as a whole and are aimed at the promotion and dissemination of knowledge and information. Examples: provisions for libraries, educators for teaching and research, people with disabilities, parliamentary and judicial reporting, and religious holidays.
Mozambique Copyright Law 2001 describes exceptions and limitations to copyright in Articles 9 to 21, for related rights - in Articles 47 to 49. Thus, the copyright monopoly does not apply to the private use of copyright works. Private use excludes any economic exploitation of the work. Mozambique law permits the reproduction of a published work solely for educational purposes without the permission of the author or payment of remuneration. Reproduction in the form of a quote (Article 10) and its length shall not exceed the size necessary to achieve the goal. It is legitimate to use the published work in another work without the permission of the author or payment of remuneration, provided that the source is indicated, as well as the name of the author, if it appears in the source.
Rights protection terms
The law protects copyright economic rights during the life of the author and 70 years after his death; for moral rights, the duration of the law is not limited. For performances, phonograms, a deadline is set - the author’s life plus 50 years after his death, for applied art - plus 70 years, for broadcasting - plus 25 years.
Literature
- UNESCO Copyright Bulletin October-December 2006
- Concise European Copyright Law. Edited by Thomas Dreier and Bernt Hugenholtz. General Series Editors: Thomas Dreier, Charles Gielen, Richard Hacon. Kluwer Law International. 2006, The Netherlands, 448 pp.
- Miguel SA Chissano Direito de autor em Moçambique: uma reflexão (1995) TFC - UEM, Maputo; and Orlanda Gisela Gonçalves Fernandes de Oliveira Graça Direito do autor e direitos conexos na ordem juridica. 2002. Moçambicana - TFC - UEM, Maputo.
- Vânia Xavier A gestão colectiva dos direitos de autor. 2005. TFC - UEM, Maputo.
- Jaime Joel Jaime Guambe Protecção dos direitos do autor no ordenamento jurídico Moçambicano: o caso do disco. 2008. TFC - ISPU, Maputo.