Madagascar: will it protect copyright better than it protects lemurs?

Two fresh accession notices have just been published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. They are

• WIPO Copyright Treaty - Accession by the Republic of Madagascar WCT Notification No. 82
  
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty - Accession by the Republic of Madagascar WPPT Notification No. 87 

Each of these notifications relates to the accession of the Republic of Madagascar to its respective treaty, the effective date of which is 24 February 2015.

Madagascar is more closely associated with a Dreamworks movie than with indigenous issues of copyright protection.  The original Madagascar animation came out in 2005, with sequels in 2008 and 2012. A third sequel, Madagascar 4, is scheduled for May 2018.  There have also been various spin-offs.  This blogger has the impression that the movie and its spin-offs are much more highly-publicised and better-known than the country whose name they bear; the first movie alone was estimated on Wikipedia to have earned over $532 million by 2013. He wonders whether the good folk of Madagascar have received any benefit. In any event he hopes that the exotic island state manages its copyright protection with less need for external support than its protection of its lemurs has required.

Algeria accedes to WCT, WPPT

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has now issued media releases, here and here, to the effect that Algeria has deposited its instruments of accession to both the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The two treaties take effect for Algeria on 31 January 2014.

While many African countries have no high-profile copyright generating personalities who are known beyond their home territories, Algeria was home to one of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century, Nobel Prize laureate Albert Camus -- who died in 1960. His works L'Etranger and La Peste are considered among the finest of their genre.