Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Egypt

Copyright rules: Egypt Shortcut: COM:EGYPT
Durations
Standard	Life + 50 years
Anonymous	Publish + 50 years
Collective	Publish + 50 years
Posthumous	Publish + 50 years
Applied art	Publish + 25 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	Yes
Common licence tags	{{PD-Egypt}} {{PD-Egypt-folklore}} {{PD-Egypt-official}} {{PD-Egypt-stamp}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	EGY
Treaties
Berne convention	7 June 1977
WTO member	30 June 1995
URAA restoration date‌*	1 January 1996
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Egypt relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Egypt must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Egypt and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Egypt, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Background

The British took effective control of Egypt in the late 19th century, and on 5 November 1914 it became a British protectorate. Britain unilaterally declared that Egypt was independent on 22 February 1922, but retained a military presence until 1954.

Egypt has been a member of the Berne Convention since 7 June 1977 and the World Trade Organization since 30 June 1995.

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Egypt. WIPO holds the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database. A copy of the English text is also held on Commons. Law No. 82 of 2002 repealed Law #354 of 1954, and repealed any provisions of that law that contradicted the provisions of the new law.^{[82/2002 Article 2(c)]}

General rules

According to Law No. 82 of 2002,

• The author's economic rights are protected throughout the lifetime of the author and for 50 years from the date of his death.^{[82/2002 Article 160]}
• The economic rights relating to works of joint authorship are protected throughout the lives of all co-authors and for 50 years from the death of the last survivor.^{[82/2002 Article 161]}
• For collective works, other than works of applied art,
  • Where the copyright holder is a legal entity, the economic rights are protected for 50 years from the date on which the work was published or made available to the public for the first time, whichever comes first.^{[82/2002 Article 162]}
  • Where the copyright holder is a natural person, the protection period is calculated as in Articles 160 and 161.^{[82/2002 Article 162]}
• The economic rights relating to a posthumous work expire after 50 years from the date the work was published or made available to the public for the first time, whichever comes first.^{[82/2002 Article 162]}
• The economic rights relating to a work published anonymously or under pseudonym are protected for 50 years from the date the work was published or made available to the public for the first time, whichever comes first.^{[82/2002 Article 163]}
• The economic rights of the author of a work of applied art expire 25 years from the date on which the work was published or made available to the public for the first time, whichever comes first.^{[82/2002 Article 164]}
• Producers of sound recordings enjoy an exclusive economic right for 50 years from the date on which the recording was made or made public, whichever comes first.^{[82/2002 Article 167]}

United States status

As a result of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act,

• For non-creative photographic or audiovisual works copyright has expired in Egypt if published prior to 1987 and copyright has expired in the U.S. if published prior to 1981.
• For other works with an identifiable author, copyright has expired in Egypt if the author died prior to 1974 and copyright has expired in the U.S. if the author died prior to 1946 or published prior to 1929.
• For other works that are either anonymous or pseudonymous, copyright has expired in Egypt if published prior to 1974 and copyright has expired in the U.S. if published prior to 1946
• For other works (e.g. collective works) whose copyright is held by a legal person, copyright has expired in Egypt if published prior to 1974 and copyright has expired in the U.S. if published prior to 1946.

National folklore

National folklore is any expression which consists of distinctive elements reflecting the traditional popular heritage, which originated or developed in Egypt, including in particular:^{[82/2002 Article 138(7)]}

• Oral expressions such as folk tales, poetry and charades, and other folklore;
• Musical expressions such as popular songs accompanied by music;
• Motion expressions, such as popular dances, plays, artistic forms and rituals;
• Tangible expressions such as: Products of popular plastic art, particularly drawings with lines and colours, engravings, sculpture, ceramics, pottery, woodwork and any inlaid designs, mosaics, metal or jewellery, hand-woven bags, needlework, textiles, carpets and clothes; Musical instruments; Architectural forms.

National folklore shall be considered part of the public domain of the people. The competent ministry shall exercise the author's economic and moral rights and shall protect and support such folklore.^{[82/2002 Article 142]}

Copyright tags

Shortcut

• COM:TAG Egypt

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD Egypt}} – for all works other than those listed below.
• {{PD-Egypt-folklore}} – for works deemed part of Egypt's national folklore.
• {{PD-Egypt-official}} – for official documents.
• {{PD-Egypt-stamp}} – for Egyptian stamps published prior to 1946.
• {{FoP-Egypt}} — For photographs that benefit from the principle of freedom of panorama

Currency

Shortcut

• COM:CUR Egypt

See also: Commons:Currency

OK According to Law No. 82 of 2002 on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights: "[Copyright protection] shall not cover the following: Official documents, whatever their source or target language, such as laws, regulations, resolutions and decisions, international conventions, court decisions, award of arbitrators and decisions of administrative committees having judicial competence."^{[82/2002 Article 141]}

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Egypt

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

OK even for 2-D artworks. {{FoP-Egypt}}

According to Article 171 of Law No. 82 of 2002:

• Without prejudice to the moral rights of the author, pursuant to the provisions of the law herein, the author may not prevent third parties, after the publication of his work, from undertaking any of the following acts: ...^{[82/2002 Article 171]}
• Make a single copy of the work for one's exclusive personal use, provided that such a copy shall not hamper the normal exploitation of the work nor cause undue prejudice to the legitimate interests of the author or copyright holders;

However, the author or his successor may, after the publication of the work, prevent third parties from carrying out any of the following acts without his authorization:

• Reproduction or copying works of fine, applied or plastic arts, unless they were displayed in a public place, or works of architecture; ...^{[82/2002 Article 171(2)]}

By expressly denying the copyright holder the ability to enforce his copyright on works "displayed in a public place, or works of architecture" freedom of panorama for these items is implied. "Applied art" means art incorporated into useful articles. Plastic arts are three dimensional artworks. Fine arts are painting, photography, and sculpture, so Egypt's FOP is relatively broad, covering everything except text.

See also

• مصر
• Category:License tags of Egypt

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer