Egypt ‘Copyrighting’ Monuments–Can Yucatan Be Far Behind
December 27th, 2007 by ejalbright
Egypt wants to copyright its ancient monuments, statues and art, and then collect royalties on copies which will be used to preserve and maintain sites in Egypt.
The idea is the brainchild of Zahi Hawass, the media-savvy director of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. “The new law will completely prohibit the duplication of historic Egyptian monuments which the Supreme Council of Antiquities considers 100-percent copies,” he told the news service AFP. “If the law is passed then it will be applied in all countries of the world so that we can protect our interests.â€.
If the Egyptian parliament passes the law (dubious), and if the copyright is recognized around the world (very doubtful), can other countries be far behind? Will Mexico copyright the monuments and art of Chichén Itzá, such as El Castillo, which is used in advertising around the world, or Chac Mool, which has inspired other artists since its discovery 130 years ago?
Via Boing Boing
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 10:29 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 29th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
So would they collect a royality on the casino in Las Vegas with an Egyptian theme? How can you copyright something like a pyramid? Didn’t someone try to copyright the wheel a while back?
regards,
Theresa
December 30th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Hey, Theresa,
According to the article, abstract uses such as the pyramid casino in Vegas would be exempt, as would be “artistic” representations, whatever that means. I think this is aimed more at copies of Egyptian art that are freely sold, or for buildings such as the copy of the Great Pyramid at the defunct “Mystery Park” in Interlaken, Switzerland.
As for copyrighting the wheel, good idea. I’ll get right on that, just in case no one’s thought about it. I may as well throw in the lever, the inclined plane and the screw while I’m at it.
– Josh