Egypt to copyright pyramids
By admin on Dec 26, 2007 in Science
Zahi Hawass, the charismatic and controversial head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told AFP on Tuesday that the move was necessary to pay for the upkeep of the country’s thousands of pharaonic sites.
“The new law will completely prohibit the duplication of historic Egyptian monuments which the Supreme Council of Antiquities considers 100-percent copies,” he said.
“If the law is passed then it will be applied in all countries of the world so that we can protect our interests,” Hawass said.
He said that a ministerial committee had already agreed on the law which should be passed in the next parliamentary session, while insisting the move would not hurt Egyptian artisans.
“It is Egypt’s right to be the only copyright owner for these monuments in order to benefit financially so we can restore, preserve and protect Egyptian monuments.”
However, the law “does not forbid local or international artists from profiting from drawings and other reproductions of pharaonic and Egyptian monuments from all eras — as long as they don’t make exact copies.”
“Artists have the right to be inspired by everything that surrounds them, including monuments,” he said.
Asked about the potential impact on the monumental Luxor Hotel in the US gambling capital of Las Vegas, Hawass insisted that particular resort was “not an exact copy of pharaonic monuments despite the fact it’s in the shape of a pyramid.”
On its website, the luxury hotel describes itself as “the only pyramid shaped building in the world,” but Hawass said its interior was entirely different from an ancient Egyptian setting.
Hawass’s declarations came after the opposition daily Al-Wafd published an article on Sunday called for the Las Vegas hotel to pay a slice of its lodging and gambling profits to the city of Luxor.
“Thirty-five million tourists visit Las Vegas to see the reproduction of Luxor city while only six million visit the real Egyptian city of Luxor,” the paper lamented.
Samir Farag, head of Luxor town council in southern Egypt, home to the legendary Valley of the Kings, said that it would be difficult to prohibit use of pyramid shapes.
“We can’t forbid people from using the name of Luxor and copying monuments from (Luxor) city, which is the world’s richest city for monuments,” he said, adding that “tourists going to Las Vegas doesn’t affect our city’s business.”
Source: AFP.com
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3 Comment(s)
By SuperSparky on Dec 27, 2007 | Reply
Just because Egypt says it’s copyrighted doesn’t make it so. International copyright is honored in the framework of domestic laws and if that country has a treaty indicating that.
The USA, would have a few issues with this new “copyright”. For one, the Constitution has a protection against enforcement of a law retroactively “Ex Post Facto”. Since these “shapes” were created thousands of years ago, this causes such a problem. Only those creating new “copies” could theoretically be in violation. Those with previously created shapes, before this foreign law, are exempt due to Constitutional protection (in the USA only).
Also, copyrights expire, even the Disney ones (eventually). Copyright begins from the date of creation not registration (although registration is not necessary in the USA, but encouraged). The claim is a few thousand years into the public domain. For international copyrights to hold, you must, from the date of creation/publication assert in a plain and obvious place the authorized copyright message, starting with “Copyright” (or the symbol) then the date, then who owns it and followed by “All Rights Reserved”. It’s thousands of years too late for Egypt.
The claim to copyright just because you happen to possess the item doesn’t work either. A clear proof of creation is required. The sphinx is still hotly debated as to who actually made it. Who actually made the pyramids is also hotly debated, despite Pharaoh names asserted.
Finally, just because Egypt is called “Egypt” doesn’t mean it is the same country. The Egypt of today is not the continuation of the Egypt of the Pharaoh’s. That Egypt was conquered and destroyed by Rome starting with the death of Cleopatra. There have been many different countries with the same name over the years. Just because you occupy the same real estate does not give you copyrights to artifacts in the public domain for thousands of years.
Can you imagine the laughter if the USA copyrighted the image of the Moon? This is no different.
I can’t see this law being enforceable outside of Egypt.
By Randall Flagg on Dec 27, 2007 | Reply
Yeah well they can only hold Copyright on EXACT copies.
As soon as I finish my EXACT copies
of all 3….they can sue me.
Fracker Please !
-RF
By William Burns on Dec 29, 2007 | Reply
From the date of creation, which is a few thousand years ago, recent officials in Egypt want to create and enforce a world-wide copyright on works that they themselves did not create.
Copyrights are only as good as the longest extension in the world today, which I believe is closer to 100 years at best. Trying to retroactively copyright the Pyramids of Egypt is like trying to retroactively copyright anything else in history. It doesn’t work that way, and the Pyramids are considered public domain as they are thousands of years old, since Egypt wishes to consider it in terms of intellectual properties.
I believe they wouldn’t be able to enforce this in any means whatsoever without being laughed out of court.