Sage, a global vendor of business management software, has won three court cases against pirate companies in Maghreb and in Francophone Africa. In addition to damages and/or fines totaling several thousand euros, prison terms were handed down.

Referring to the judgment dated 6 March 2014, the District Court of Douala Bonanjo, correctional section, found MONKAM, Managing Director of the company MOZALE SARL, guilty of software copyright infringement; and was ordered to pay CFAF 2,031,000 in damages to Sage as well as CFAF 102,225 in court costs and a fine of CFAF 500,000. The court issued a warrant of commitment for 18 months’ imprisonment against MONKAM in the event of non-payment within the legally prescribed period.

Many software companies are currently suffering the same problem and are loosing a lot of money and jobs due to counterfeit products.

A study done by the Software Alliance (BSA) states that Software Piracy has been increasing annually and has reach 59 percent in the Middle East and Africa by the end of last year. Countries like Algeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast are the most affected with an increase of 85 percent, 82 percent and 80 percent respectively.