# copyrights in Egypt, old published stuff



## expatlady (Nov 25, 2011)

Is there anyone here who knows anything about this? I have heard there was no copyright law before 1954, but a copyright-law that year was made retroactive, i.e. all printed matter published pre-1954 then got copyright.

Is this correct?

Knowledgable answers would be greatly appreciated.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

I have heard there is no copyright here full stop...


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## expatlady (Nov 25, 2011)

Yeah, but this is not about using Egyptian stuff in Egypt.
It is about using Egyptian stuff _outside_ Egypt, in a country which cares very much about copyrights...


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

expatlady said:


> Yeah, but this is not about using Egyptian stuff in Egypt.
> It is about using Egyptian stuff _outside_ Egypt, in a country which cares very much about copyrights...




would they bother? I thought copyright only lasted for 50 years or so or is it 50 years after the original artist dies?


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## expatlady (Nov 25, 2011)

No, when it comes to writing, apparently something under GATT applies, for Egypt, up to 95 years after publication. See here: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States


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## PaulAshton (Nov 18, 2011)

It might upset an Egyptian somewhere...as copyright and patents are protected by sharee’ah. Their owners have the right to buy or sell them and nobody has the right to violate these rights.

The copyright law here is for life plus 50 years, if you wish however to register a domain name for a website to sell copyright material do so with a registrar in Barbados and choose your web host in São Tomé and Príncipe as there are no copyright laws or the site could be subject to a DMCA take down request, avoid a USA or European host at all costs :eyebrows:

LAW ON THE PROTECTION
OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
BOOK ONE
Patents and Utility Models, Layout-Designs for Integrated Circuits,
and Undisclosed Information
PART I
PATENTS AND UTILITY MODELS

http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs_new/pdf/en/eg/eg001en.pdf


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## expatlady (Nov 25, 2011)

>PaulAshton: Sorry, this does not address my issue at all.

I´m talking about an existing website, registered in the US (& and no, it is _not_ my website, and I have absolutely no control over where it is registered).

This is a very special issue, and en expert in Egyptian copyright law, and history, is really what I am looking for. 
I am especially interested in knowing how that first law in the 1950s was formulated, and how it was (_if _it was) made retroactive.


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## PaulAshton (Nov 18, 2011)

expatlady said:


> >PaulAshton: Sorry, this does not address my issue at all.
> 
> I´m talking about an existing website, registered in the US (& and no, it is _not_ my website, and I have absolutely no control over where it is registered).
> 
> ...


If you need specific legal advice you are best seeing a lawyer who is a specialist in such an area, this forum is a place where people provide help based on the experience of living here.

A forum is not a substitute for legal advice or any other diagnosis.

The law here is simple the copyright exists with the holder for life plus 50 years and was enacted in 1954.

If you wish to look at legislative texts and history please see here, there are relevant links and references to what is cited

Copyright law of Egypt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If the web host is in the USA there might be issues, read the TOS of the host to see if they can disable a site if there is any indication of legal issues 

If the root cause of the problem is a perceived copyright issue simply move host there is only downfall is 24 - 48hrs downtime while DNS records are populated. I can provide a list of hosts via PM where copyright is not recognised in that country 

What is illegal in one country might be legal in another much can be accomplished using an offshore web host and Shell corporations in Panama which are not in themselves illegal and have legitimate business purposes,especially those based in tax havens.

The key is as long as you are not doing anything illegal in line with any international bilateral or mutual assistance agreements or treaties that's OK you are just using strategically as many loopholes and ambiguity in a system as possible :eyebrows:


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## expatlady (Nov 25, 2011)

Thanks again, but to repeat: It is not my website, so it is not up to me to move it. And for various economic and legal issues, I doubt that the owners would move it abroad, even for a day or two.

And I really don´t feel like spending money on lawyers to figure out the legal issues of somebody else´s webpage ... 

I know it was a far shot to post here, and I didn´t really expect an "expert" to turn up. But you never know!


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## PaulAshton (Nov 18, 2011)

expatlady said:


> I know it was a far shot to post here, and I didn´t really expect an "expert" to turn up. But you never know!


What do I know, as a fairly young person I get out of bed when I want or not at all


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