Enforcement and attitudes

As in most

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

protection in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

is weak.

Copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

is not regarded as a crime, and it is widely accepted by consumers. Senegal's criminal law provisions do not provide for criminal procedures in case of trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale. In addition, because of budget constraints, Senegal's Copyright Office has had difficulty enforcing sanctions against individuals who infringe copyrights in the course of business, including hackers and distributors of infringed copies. Nonetheless, the Copyright Office has begun vigorous attempts against counterfeit media, seizing items as well as putting stickers on legal merchandise. It is currently continuing these enforcement efforts.

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

began an anti-

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

campaign in Senegal in early 2004 and reports some success in converting users of pirated Microsoft products through the sale of deeply discounted Microsoft licenses.Senegal Country Commercial Guide 2008
.

U.S. Commercial Service The United States Commercial Service (CS) is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration. CS is a part of the U.S. Foreign Service and its commercial officers are diplomats. The CS global netwo ...

(2008).

Treaties and law

Senegal is a signatory to the

Berne Convention The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...

. It also is a member of the African Organization of Intellectual Property (OAPI), a grouping of 15 Francophone

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n countries, which has established among its member states a common system for obtaining and maintaining protection for patents, trademarks and industrial designs. Therefore, rights registered in one member country are valid in all.

Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

validity is 20 years. Registered trademarks are protected for 20 years at each registration, renewable without limit. Senegal is a signatory to the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

and its Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement (TRIPS). Since January 2000, Senegal theoretically has been in full compliance with the TRIPS accord, but has yet to deposit its instruments of ratification for

WIPO Copyright Treaty The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WIPO Copyright Treaty or WCT) is an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996. It provides addi ...

and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms.

References

{{reflist Law of Senegal