Egypt to Copyright Its Monuments

Egypt is expected to pass a law that will copyright its pyramids, Sphinx and other ancient monuments so that collected royalties will help support their maintenance.

Agence France-Presse reported on December 25, 2007 that Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Director of Excavations at the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara and Bahariya Oasis, is seeking to have a law passed that will copyright its ancient pharaonic monuments. Royalties paid to Egypt for the reproduction of their images are intended to support the structures' critical maintenance.

A ministerial committee has already reached agreement on the law. And the proposed legislation is expected to receive approval during the Egyptian government's next parliamentary session.

Artists will be unaffected by the mandate. Dr. Hawass said that 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."

Enforcing such a law internationally should prove to be interesting.