MALDIVES LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Shaaheen Hameed, Hassan Maaz Shareef, Aminath Amathulla, Nazahath Ahmed, Isha Ali Raoof, Aifa Shareef, Noorul Hudha Ahmed and Mohamed Azmee, Premier Chambers LLP
• Any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature as well as any official transla - tion of those documents. Copyright Duration The economic and moral rights over works are generally protected for the life of the author plus 70 years after the death of the author. In the case of co-authorship or joint authorship, the economic and moral rights are protected for the life of the last surviving author plus 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. For collective works, other than works of applied art and audio-visual work, the economic and moral rights are protected for 70 years from the date on which the work was either made, first made available to the public or first published, whichever date is latest. For works published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the economic and moral rights are protected for 70 years from the date the work was either made, first made available to the pub - lic or first published, whichever is the latest date. For works of applied art, the economic and moral rights are protected for 35 years from the making of the work. Registration of Copyright Under the Copyrights Act it is not compulsory to register the works with the relevant government authority in order to gain protection. However, parties may apply to register the works with the Ministry. Registration helps a copyright holder in legal proceedings prove that the work in ques - tion is their creation. Copyrights may be registered after the pre - scribed application form has been submitted
to the Ministry and the prescribed fee has been paid. A non-refundable fee of MVR1,000 is cur - rently payable. The registration process usually takes two business days. Remedies Right to file action in the court to protect rights A copyright owner has the right to file for legal action in a relevant court of law if the owner’s rights protected under the Copyrights Act have been infringed or if it is reasonably believed the rights will be infringed. In an action of this nature, the copyright owner may request the court make orders to stop the infringement, compensate the copyright owner for losses suffered or being suffered or protect the ownership rights of the copyright owner. In this regard, the court has the power to make: • orders against the infringing party or any party with the power to do so, to either take or refrain from taking action(s) in order to stop the infringing activity; • other lawful orders under applicable laws and regulations; • orders against the infringing party to compen - sate the copyright owner for costs incurred in seeking compensation, for the benefit gained by the infringing party from the infringement and for direct and indirect loss of income or reputation suffered by the copyright owner; • fines of between MVR10,000 and MVR100,000 as a penalty against the infring - ing party depending on the gravity of the action and wilful action or negligence of the infringing party and to award the amount of the fine to be paid to the copyright owner; • orders either to return to the copyright owner, or destroy, or remove from the business mar- ket, all infringing works and copies; or
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