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African Copyright & Access to Knowledge project
Egyptian Dissemination SeminarCairo
14 March 2010
Welcome address...by Dr. Bassem AWADACA2K Egypt team
General introduction to the ACA2K project…
Vision, Mission and Objectives
(Dr. Bassem AWAD)
✓ Officially started in January 2008
✓ End of the project: March 2010
✓ 8 study countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda
✓ More than 30 researchers
✓ Funded by the IDRC (Canada) and Shuttleworth Foundation
✓ Managed at Wits LINK Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Egyptian ACA2K Study (Bassem AWAD and Perihan Abou Zeid)
I. Egyptian Facts
II. Doctrinal Analysis III. Qualitative Analysis
I. Egyptian Facts
Population: approximately 82 million people in 2008 [32% under the age of 15].
Educational system: 17 million students; 42,000 schools, 48 Universities and Higher Institutes.
Internet Users: the number reached 17 million subscribers at the end of 2009, representing 20% of the population.
Illiteracy rates decreased to 29.3% in 2008.
II. Doctrinal analysisAccess to Knowledge Legal
landscape (Dr. Bassem AWAD)
Legal landscape The Egyptian Constitution, provisions related to
education and learning: art. 16, 18 and 20.
(Article 16) The State shall guarantee cultural… services and shall work to ensure them particularly for villagers in an easy and regular manner in order to raise their standard .
(Article 18) Education is a right guaranteed by the State. It is obligatory in the primary stage.. and guarantee the independence of universities and scientific research.
(Article 20) Educational institutions shall be free of charge in their various stages.
The IP law 82/2002
Copyright law is governed under the IP Law No. 82 of 2002 (Book Three, art. 138-188); and the Implementing Decree, Prime Minister Decree 497 of 2005 amended by PM Decree 202 of 2006.
Egyptian copyright law abides by all international treaties to which Egypt is a signatory [Egypt is not yet a member of WCT and WPPT].
The IP law 82/2002
Creative works are strongly protected by the law.
Core rights: Economic and Moral rights are conferred to Right Holders.
Economic rights include the following: • reproduction right; right of adaptation and
translation; distribution right; • rental and lending right; • public performance right; broadcasting right; right of
communication to the public; and right of making available to the public.
Duration of protection: life + 50 years
Compulsory licenses for reproducing protected works for the purposes of education with respect to some conditions (the “three-step test”).
Protected works should be (a) used for fulfilling the requirements of education; (b) against payment of fair compensation to the author; and (c) such license should not contradict the normal exploitation of the work and unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author or the copyright-holders.
Anti-Circumvention Measures: the IP law adopted the highest level of protection for TPMs by prohibiting manufacturing, assembling or importing of any device or technology that aims to circumvent any TPMs.
Enforcement authority
Administrative: Literature works the Permanent Office for
Copyright Protection at the Supreme Council for Culture affiliated to the Ministry of Culture;
Computer programs and Databases ITIDA at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
Police Officials: Specialist Anti-Piracy Police at the Ministry of Interior.
Judiciary: Economic Courts created in 2008 to handle several types of cases including copyright disputes.
Copyright and A2K
Egyptian copyright law abides by all international treaties to which Egypt is a signatory, yet in some instances it deviates from them – both to the benefit and to the harm of access to knowledge.
(1) Pro Copyright provisions. (2)Pro A2K provisions. (3) Absence of specific provisions.
(1) Pro Copyright provisions
– Economic rights conferred to the author are too wide.
– License to use public domain works.
Wide Economic rights
• Article 147 states “The author shall have the exclusive right to authorize or prevent any form of exploitation of his work, particularly through… rental, lending…. The author and his successor shall also have the right to control any disposal of the original copy of the work”.
أيارى فى الترخيص أو المنع لتئثيتمتع المؤلف وخلفه العام من بعده بحق اس• أو التأجير أو ... من الوجوه وبخاصة عن طريقهى وجأاستغالل لمصنفه ب
... . االعارة أو كما يتمتع المؤلف وخلفه من بعده بالحق فى تتبع اعمال التصريف فى النسخة •
االصلية لمصنفه والذى يخوله الحصول على نسبة مئوية معينة ال تجاوز عشرة ة مادة من كل عملية تصرف فى هذه النسختفى المائة من الزيادة التى تحقق
)١٤٧( .
The lending rights do not exist in any of the international treaties on copyright.
The rental right is too wide (all kinds + all types of rental).
The right to control any disposal of the original copy of all kinds of work (not works of arts and original manuscripts)
Public domain works Commercial or professional exploitation of works
that fall into the public domain need licensing from the competent ministry + royalties ! ! !
• Article 183 states that: “the competent ministry shall grant license for the commercial or professional exploitation of works, sound recordings, performance or broadcast programs that fall into the public domain, against payment of fees…”.
المختصة • الوزارة المهنى الترخيصتصدر أو التجارى باالستغاللاالذاعى البرنامج أو االداء أو الصوتى التسجيل أو الذى للمصنف
العام الملك فى التنفيذية يسقط الالئحة تحدده رسم مقابلجني الف يجاوز ال بما القانون هلهذا
(2) Pro A2K provisions
• Parallel importation of books and educational materials.
• Translation of work published in foreigner language.
Parallel importationParallel importation of books and
educational materials are permitted. Article 147 states “the right to prevent third parties from
importing, using, selling or distributing his protected work, shall lapse where the copyright owner undertakes to exploit or market his work in any state or authorize a third party to do so”.
أو يستنفدو• استخدام أو استيراد من الغير منع فى المؤلف حقالقانون هذا ألحكام وفقا المحمى مصنفه توزيع أو قام بيع إذا
بذلك للغير رخص أو دولة اية فى وتسويقه باستغالله[.١٤٧مادة] الرابعة الفقرة
Translation provisionsTranslation of copyrighted works published in
Foreigner languages to Arabic is allowed. “protection… lapse with regards to the translation of
that work into the Arabic language, unless the author or the translator himself exercises this right directly or through a third party within three years of the date of first publication of the original or translated work”.
لغة إلى مصنفه ترجم من وحق المؤلف حق حماية تنتهىاخرى لم اجنبية إذا العربية اللغة إلى المصنف ذلك ترجمة فى
غيره بواسطة أو بنفسه الحق هذا المترجم أو المؤلف فى يباشرسنوات ثالث المترجم مدى أو االصلى للمصنف نشر أول تاريخ من
. [١٤٨مادة]
Lack of legal provisions
The Egyptian IP law does not contain any specific provisions regarding: Orphan works Distance and E-learning mechanisms; People with disabilities; Exceptions on TPM circumvention acts for
non-profits entities (libraries, archive services, and education institutions).
Conclusion The Egyptian IP law, in general, is not guided by
the purpose to increase access to knowledge as opposed to protecting copyright. It can be changed in order to maximize effective access to knowledge and access to learning materials.
Egyptian copyright law lacks provisions that address access to knowledge per se.
Lack of court cases in the area of copyright and A2K.
Lack of awareness of existing copyright limitations and exceptions contained in the law.
Legal Recommendations
Retain the current duration of copyright protection;
Review and amend copyright law to promote access to knowledge [E-learning, people with disabilities, lending… ];
Examine scope of copyright protection to promote public domain.
