Egypt seeks to copyright pharaonic antiquities to profit from replicas

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This article was published 28/12/2007 (6542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt might copyright its pharaonic antiquities, from the pyramids to scarab beetles, in an attempt to profit from the sale of replicas, an official said Thursday.

It is unclear whether such a copyright would be recognized internationally.

Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said it would apply only to exact replicas – including scale – meaning someone would have to build a full-size copy of the giant pyramids for it to violate the copyright.

“If you (want to) build an exact copy of the Great Pyramid we will stop you,” Hawass said.

The provision is part of a new draft antiquities law that Hawass brought before the Egyptian legislature. The bill would also mandate life imprisonment for antiquities smugglers, an attempt to crack down on theft of Egypt’s heritage.

Under the law, anyone seeking to make an exact replica of a copyrighted pharaonic artifact would have to seek permission and pay a fee to Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The draft bill comes amid recent complaints in Egyptian news media about money being made by the pyramid-shaped Las Vegas Luxor casino.

But Hawass said that and other ancient Egyptian-themed parks and malls around the world would not be affected by the copyright law.

Egyptian lawyer Hossam Lutfi, an expert with the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization, said the draft may be baffling since the authors of the works in question are long gone.

However, UNESCO and Lufti’s organization are trying to develop the idea – which still has not won wide backing – that a country has the right to defend how its folklore and heritage are used internationally.

Jeffrey Weingart, lawyer with New York City-based Thelen Ried Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP, said the scope of the new Egyptian draft bill is unclear “in terms what it seeks to prohibit and what exceptions apply.”

“It’s also unclear how a novel law such as this one would play in terms of international copyright treaties, enforcement and subject matter,” said Weingart, who has long dealt with copyright laws in the United States.

Rules would also change for dozens of foreign archeological missions excavating sites in Egypt, which in the past were allowed to take 10 per cent of their finds out of the country.

“I cancelled that. I feel it is an honour for any for expert just to work in Egypt…not to take things outside,” Hawass said.