. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/265/Add.1
6 June 2001
(01-2780)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  French
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION
Replies by Morocco to Questions Posed by Canada
Addendum
By means of a communication from the Permanent Mission of Morocco, dated 1 June 2001,
the Secretariat received the following replies to the questions posed by Canada and circulated in
document IP/C/W/261.
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1. Please describe how the enforcement obligations (Articles 41-61 of the
TRIPS Agreement and throughout) have been implemented.
The reply to this question can be found in the document entitled "Checklist of Issues on
Enforcement" which was circulated to WTO Members under the symbol IP/N/6/MAR/1.
2. What protection does your copyright legislation afford to "foreign works"?
Foreign works are protected under Law No. 2-00 of 15 February 2000 on Copyright and
Related Rights.  Article 60 of that law stipulates that "the protection and exploitation of related rightsis entrusted to the authors' organization".  The organization in question is in fact the Moroccan
Copyright Office (BMDA) created by a Decree issued on 8 March 1965, Article 3 of which stipulates
that the BMDA shall "handle, throughout the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco, the interests of the
various foreign authors' societies in the framework of the conventions or agreements concluded with
them".  Obviously, this is done in conformity with the provisions of the international conventions towhich Morocco is a party, and one of whose basic principles is national treatment of foreign authors.
They comprise, essentially:
• The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, administered
by the World Intellectual Property Organization, to which Morocco acceded on
16 June 1917, ratifying its latest revision (the Paris Act of 24 July 1971) on17 February 1987;
• The Universal Copyright Convention, admi nistered by UNESCO, to which Morocco
acceded on 8 February 1972, ratifying its latest revision (Paris Act of 24 July 1971)
on 28 October 1975
• The TRIPS Agreement, which forms part of Annex I to the Marrakesh Agreement
Establishing the World Trade Organization, concluded on 15 April 1994 and signed
by Morocco on that date.IP/C/W/265/Add.1
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It should be stressed that the true scope of all references to works and authors in Law 2-00 on
copyright and related rights must be interpreted in the broadest sense possible and without distinction
as to the nationality, race or religion of the author.
The rights conferred upon the author under the said Law are of two types:
• Moral rights (Article 9) by which authors may claim authorship of their works,
remain anonymous or use a pseudonym, and generally object to any derogatory action
in relation thereto which would be prejudicial to their honour or reputation;
• economic rights (Article 10) by which authors have the exclusive right to make their
works available to the public.
Finally, it should be stressed that the scope of application of this Law to copyright and related
rights is covered by Articles 66 and 67, which stipulat e that the provisions of the said Law shall apply
to works entitled to protection under an international treaty to which Morocco is a party and toperformances, phonograms and broadcasts protected under international conventions to which
Morocco is a party.
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