http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080115-egypt-copyright.html
I came across the article while looking for something interesting to post a blog on. The title “Can Egypt Copyright the Pyramids?” drew me in . The article was from Jan. 2008 and most other articles concerning it were around the same date and I could not find anything as to if anything ever came out of it (which I’m assuming nothing ever did). So here goes:
A new law was proposed by the Egyptian Government that would require anyone making and selling an exact copy of any of its ancient monuments to pay the government royalties. Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said this was a move in order to collect fees to be put toward the preservation of Egypt’s precious and historical past. The royalties would be used to pay for the upkeep of the country’s thousands of pharaonic sites. The law holds that no exact replica can be made of any of Egypt’s historical sites with exact dimensions. If someone were to create a souvenir pyramid where the dimensions were a little bit off when scaled down, then that would be fine. They also plan to seek royalties from those who use images of antiquities commercially in photography, television, and movies, however this would not apply for images used for educational purposes.
They are making this argument on the basis that targeted museums and companies in both China and the United States have “made millions” in the sale of Egyptian historical replicas. However, El Ashmawi, Egyptian President said that this law would not impose on the Luxor Hotel in Vegas because he views it as free publicity that inspires travelers to want to come see the real pyramids.
Although it was noted in the article about the difficulties of making such a global copyright and finding where the replicas are, at the time of the article, the legislation had been approved by Egypt’s prime minister was put before the Egyptian Parliament. Criticism from legal experts outside of Egypt, said that such laws violate international copyright conventions and are unlikely to be enforced.
Egypt and the U.S. are both a part of the Berne Convention, an international treaty agreement for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. The Berne Convention of 1887 agreed that authors published works should enjoy in each of their countries of the Union, the same rights as the law of the country, granted to native authors. In this case, Egyptian legislation would not fit within U.S. and European laws, meaning they could not be enforced abroad.
Also according to modern day copyright laws in Western Countries, creations and ideas are protected for about 95 years before being released to the public, which would have released the pyramids thousands of years ago. This kind of law feels so out of place in today’s day and age because if it actually went through, other countries would probably jump on the chance to start charging for monument replicas. New York could start charging for all those mini Statues of Liberty seen in every tourist store and overseas. Or would France try to claim that they would have rights to it because they gave it to us? Egypt could probably enforce similar laws within its own borders for companies importing little replicas, but it seems impossible, and just a little weird, to be trying for such a law globally. The historical places built on Egyptian soil were made thousands of years before copyright laws were even enacted, and to try to take advantage like this is wrong. Egypt should just go on charging for tour services on their own land, instead of charging for the distribution of historical replications. What do you guys think of a law like this? Is it realistic that they were trying to get more money for preservation? Could something like this be brought to light later on in the future? (Obviously it never went through to the degree it was originally proposed)
