Question: What are the main changes brought by the Copyrights Act 2014, as amended by the

Copyright Amendment Act 2017, concerning the institutional framework for the protection of
copyright?

Comparative analysis about copyright infringement and protection.

Add-ons: Given that Mauritius is an island, how copyright law is going to differ from that of the
laws in continents such as Europe/ other jurisdictions? How is it carried out in the Frontiers/
borders?

The situation of copyright infringement and copyright protection in Mauritius prior to the
copyright amendment act 2017

As seen in the Copyright (CR) Act, we do have laws in Mauritius that protects a
copyrighted work from being infringed. However, there was a lacuna. Copyright law should
prioritize recognition of copyright. When we say recognition of CR, we are in fact referring to
CR registration which is a solution that simplifies the process of copyright enforcement,
something which was absent in Mauritius. As an example, in a Harry Potter book, the theme,
story, and characters are all protected by Copyright, which protects the author, J.K. Rowling,
from someone stealing her work. However, if this book was written in Mauritius, the only thing
that would be protected would be the date. Although Mauritius has common law copyright
protection, an individual cannot enforce his right due to the lack of a registration system. This
opens the door for someone to copy her work while legally avoiding an infringement action.
Nevertheless, we have the Copyright Index which is recognized by Mauritius that works
as a copyright authority providing official CR registration. 1 Simultaneously, prior to the
amendment in 2017, the Ministry of Arts and Culture of Mauritius is working on a project that
will allow owners/assignees/licensees to register online by completing the Registration form. 2
Compared to this requirement in Mauritius of registering a work for it to be copyright
protected, UK needs no such thing. In simple terms, in UK, we do have the CR system that
protects the work of a person and prohibits others from using it without permission. However, in
that country, one is not required to register since whether registered or not, the author will get
CR protection automatically as long as the work is original and in material form. 3 It is to be
noted that this is the case for any European country. The reason is obvious. Mauritius being a
small country is more likely to keep track of its registered copyrighted work; however, the
European countries being greater in size as well as population will be greater in the amount of
creations as well. Having to register all that will be a great deal.

1
https://copyrightindex.com/get-copyright-registration-Mauritius/
2
https://ssrana.in/global-ip/international-copyright/copyrights-in-mauritius/
3
https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/guides/copyright-law-the-basics
Situation of copyright laws in Mauritius as compared to other continents and countries.

Mauritius, for one, is definitely more secured in terms of Copyright laws in comparison
to certain African countries. Let’s take the example of Nigeria. It is well known that Nigeria's
copyright system is very weak and piracy remains a major challenge. There are numerous factors
cited for piracy in Nigeria, but effective legislation to enforce copyright law issues is inadequate
and, in some cases, lacking. Such is definitely not the case in Mauritius. There are many such
precedents illustrating this. The case of Cine Network Ltd vs. Barahoo in 1999 portrays the
sanction of copyright infringement against the defendant in which the latter had an interlocutory
order filed against him and he also had to deliver back the copies of the related film. In 2018, we
had the case of Police vs. Doorga whereby the accused was charged with copyright infringement
on the basis of having in possession copies of work belonging to Chicco Trading Ltd. The Court
ruled that the evidence provided proved that there was trademark and not copyright following
which the Accused was dismissed. Thus, it can be seen that the small island of Mauritius
compared to the large country of Nigeria is definitely more secured in terms of CR.
Concerning the African countries in general, the continent has established the African
Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) that regulates cooperation among the
African states in patents and intellectual property matters. Evidently, Mauritius does not have
any such organization that will deal with matters even district-wise.

Moving on, we also have the copyright system of the United States. United States
defends CR law in an extreme manner; yet, despite this way being the only way to eliminate
piracy and promote creativity, it has a negative effect. In fact, around 35000 people in the US
have been issued Court notices for downloading a movie. These are just a few examples of
piracy cases, and many scholars believe that US CR law itself impedes creativity. It cannot serve
its formalized purpose. Mauritius, comparatively, is in that phase of development, where we can
easily benefit from the mistakes of other nations and develop our own copyright regime, which
should suit the needs of the average Mauritian in order to protect piracy and promote creativity 4.

In contradiction, all these countries do have a similar point with our country, that is, the
duration of copyright. The amended section 15 of the CR Act provides that the economic and
moral rights shall be protected during the lifetime of the author plus 70 years after his death. The
same has been stipulated in the respective section of the above-mentioned countries. Exceptions
nonetheless lie in the Copyright Act of South Africa whereby by virtue of section 3, it is
stipulated that the copyright duration is extended to only 50 years after the author’s death. The
Copyright law in India bears many similarities to the Mauritian one as well. However, its term of
duration is only 60 years after the copyright owner’s death as evidenced by sections 22, 23, 24,
26, 27, 28 and 29 of its Copyright Act.

4
http://www.lemauricien.com/le-mauricien/2012-onwards-intellectual-property-my-view-copyright-law/125373/
How is it carried out in the Frontiers/ borders?

The question that needs to be asked to answer this particular part is: Is my CR recognizable in
other countries? A simple answer would be no. In fact, there is no such thing as an international
CR that will protect an author’s work worldwide. Protection against unauthorized use in a
specific country is determined by that country's national laws. Does this mean that authors have
to register their works under many jurisdictions just to gain protection? No. Most countries
provide foreign works with protection under conditions that have been simplified by
international CR treaties and conventions. For instance, Mauritius has ratified the Berne
Convention which is an international agreement concerning CR, the result of which is that the
country is to provide CR protection to foreign nationals who are members of the Convention
without a requirement of any formalities and vice versa. In other words, a Mauritian author is
automatically protected from infringement of his work in a foreign jurisdiction that is a member
of the Berne Union and vice versa. Sport Data Feed Ltd v Stevenhills Ltd of 2013 confirms
this statement. In this case, the applicant was able to lodge an interlocutory order against the
respondent after the latter committed CR infringement on one of its work. While the respondent
argued claiming that the work fell under the UK Copyright Act and hence could not be of
“assistance to the appellant’s case”, this was refuted by simply referring to section 31 of the
Mauritian CR Act 1997 concerning the scope of protection whereby protection is also to be
given to “another country party to the Berne Convention”. Despite the fact that that Act has been
amended, it is to be noted that subject to the new Copyright Act, section 40 provides that
protection is also to be given to works that are “in accordance with any international convention
or other international agreement to which Mauritius is a party”.

On the other hand, we also have the concept of Fair Dealing, that is, where one is allowed
to use the work of another without his or her authorization. Sections 16 to 28 of the CR Act
elaborate on this. Certain examples would be for scientific non-commercial use, for teaching, for
private use and even reproduction without any commercial gain, among others. All these fall
under Part IV of the CR Act that confines the economic rights of an author.