IP Policies in Africa no 31, 32 and 33 - Mali, Mauritania and Mauritius

 M is for Macaque, Mali, Mauritania and Mauritius

Macaque

Many in IP circles have spent much of this month discussing the import of this lady Macaque's selfie-taking skills and whether they entitle her to copyright in the picture she took of herself (left). Over at IPKenya  (here) Victor Nzomo gave us David Slater's version of how this photogenic macaque got her hands on his camera and why he insists that he holds copyright in the photo. Our friends at the IPKat discussed the matter here and our other friends at the 1709 blog are running a poll here till 1 September to get readers' views on who holds copyright in the photo. If you haven't had your say yet, this Leo recommends that you head over to IPKat and cast your vote.

Mali 

Mali is an OAPI and ECOWAS member state.
According to WIPO reports here  and here the country's national IP Policy has been under discussion and formulation since 2011. The draft policy is not currently publicly available.

Mauritania

Mauritania is an OAPI and African Economic Community (AEC) member state. This Leo was unable to unearth any information on work towards an IP Policy in this country.

Mauritius

Mauritius is an AEC and SADC member state. The country has had an Intellectual Property Development Plan in place since 2009 (see here and here). However, this policy is quite elusive and this Leo has been unable to get her paws on a copy. In March 2014, it was reported here that an IP Council would be set up to co-ordinate and lead national IP initiatives. The same report stated that a new IP policy will be formulated ' to mainstream IP into... economic and social development and to further promote innovation and creativity through a more holistic approach to IP matters'.  Hopefully this new policy will be easier to locate.

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For more info, see -
Mali's WIPOLex entry here
Mauritania's WIPOLex entry here
Mauritius' WIPOLex entry here