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Egypt to Copyright Pyramids and Sphynx
empaler writes "We all know the usual pro-copyright arguments. Most of them hinge on the fact that the individual or company that has a copyright needs an incentive to make something that is copyrightable, and therefore ensure a revenue stream in a period after the copyright has been granted. In a never-surpassed move, Egypt is working on legislation to extend copyright well above 3000 years — they are going to start claiming royalties for using likenesses of the Sphynx and the Pyramids. It is still unclear whether the original intent of the Pyramids included 'making sure them bastards pay for a plastic copy in 3000 years' alongside 'securing a pathway to the heavens for the God King.' Speaking as a Greenlandic national, I want dibs on ice cubes." It sounds straight out of The Onion, but instead you can read another story on the BBC.
"This bit of accepted wisdom, that "...the Pyramids [were] built by slaves who were Jews.." (as stated in your message of 1 September), is a canard that does not deserve repetition. First, it is anachronistic and illogical. The "Pyramids" -- presumably the three great pyramids of Gizah and perhaps the earlier pyramids to the south, including the Step Pyramid of Sakkara -- were built in the Third and Fourth Dynasties, 2650-2575 BC and 2575-2467 BC. The Jews did not exist at that time. The ancestors of the Jews, the Hebrews or "Children of Israel" -- Bene Yisra'el -- did not enter Egypt until centuries later. If one looks at the biblical narrative, Joseph, son of Jacob aka Israel, who brought the people of Israel into Egypt to settle in the land of Goshen, was driven in a chariot just behind Pharaoh's. The Egyptians did not have the wheel when the great pyramids were built. By the time the Egyptians had wheels, and horses and chariots, the great pyramids were ancient. Even if one were to determine that the migration of the Sumerian/Chaldean Abraham from the Sumerian city of Ur to the land of the Canaanites took place around the predynastic or early dynastic periods of ancient Egypt, there would still have been no Jews in Egypt at the time -- or anywhere else for that matter. Second, recent scholarship on ancient Egypt has suggested -- concluded, perhaps -- that the pyramids were built by corvees of native Egyptians and undoubtedly of slaves as well, conscripted into temporary service on the pyramids, probably during the flood season when their labor on the farm could be spared. Those who were not actually slaves through warfare or other reasons were subjects of Pharaoh who were made to give their time and effort to a great national cause. Managing these labor gangs were professional craftsmen whose villages near the pyramids have been under excavation and study". Ronald Hilton - 9/6/01
No, he's right on. The Jews were certainly slaves for other projects, just not the pyramids. There were quite a lot of buildings going up around the time of Ramesses II (who was possibly the antagonist to Moses), but the Egyptians had long since switched to burying important people in the Valley of the Kings.
Not a typewriter
No, international treaty means that your copyright will be honored under the laws of the other country in that country. To prosecute someone in the United States, you have to file a case in US District Court under Title 17, not under the Berne Convention.
If Egypt retaliates for something like this, they would be viewed as violating the treaties by every other state, and be subject to significant sanctions. Not to mention, they are still trying to get back lots of antiquities from all those other countries.
Don't forget the beloved WTO - no telling how it could make the situation even more absurd that it already is.
It was called the DMCA, and contained provisions to extend copyright indefinitely (even though nobody seems to realize it.)
See, legally the copyright expires, of course. But technically it doesn't. If a copyright holder places "technological measures" to prevent someone from copying/accessing a work, then as long as the measures continue to function, you are legally prevented from using the material once is has entered the public domain, because the "technological measures" are given force of law.
Prior art doesn't matter in copyright. You are thinking of patents. If I preform Hamlet on stage, my performance is copyrighted the moment I do it. If I don't want you to video tape it, then copyright would be on my side. Nothing stops you from performing it yourself though because Shakespeare's copyright on the play has expired. Of course it wouldn't be expired in Egypt if this law passes.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
uhm, federal reserve lending money on interest to the state does exactly this.
On second thought, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.
A pyramid is a geometrical figure, but they are copywriting 'The Pyramids, one of the wonders of the ancient world where pharos were buried', and not the geometrical figure. This is about the same as saying you can't copywrite the Death Star, because it is basically a sphere. There is a lot more to both than just their physical shape.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
You trademark Mickey Mouse. You copyright particular examples of work containing him.
Won't work. India has prior art rights on the swastika
Japan fingerprints foreigners as anti-terror move
Actually you will find The Luxor next to Ceasar's Palace, it the black Pyramid with frick'in laser beams.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
If I preform Hamlet on stage, my performance is copyrighted the moment I do it.
In the US a performance must be "fixed in a tangible medium." It isn't copyrighted unless you film it, record it, or write it down.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Similarly, if a television show were broadcast over the airwaves but not stored by the filmer/broadcaster/whoever himself, you could record the broadcast and distribute it all you wanted (seeing as how the "work" isn't fixed and thus not copyrighted).
- presumption of being a criminal: get your fingerprints taken at the border, get inspected by idiots in the name of security every hour, get to take your bloody *shoes* off whenever you want to board a plane. Get real. None of that stuff stops terrorism. It does however, stop *tourism*.
;)
Most of this stuff happens even to US Citizens. It's at least part of the reason for the airlines being in trouble - I avoid flying now even for domestic flights, and many are.
I happen to agree that it's theater, but haven't been able to convince anybody high enough to do something to actually take action.
- no protection by the law: as a foreigner you are not protected by any american laws. The constitution doesn't apply to you. The authorities can do with you whatever they want, for any reason they feel like. You could be sitting on a beach one moment and being beaten up in Guantanamo Bay the next, and noone would care.
Incorrect. For one thing, your country can complain*. For another, despite what you may have heard, as a rule the US doesn't just grab random people and toss them in Guantanamo. For one thing, it's unproductive. While you might have to worry about varying laws**, for the most part as long as you're only touring they're very consistant and not much of a hassle. Stuff gets much more complicated if you're looking at doing business here, of course, but that's true everywhere.
- lawsuits. Get involved in any kind of accident, and american lawyers will bleed you dry. You might not even be able to go back to your own country.
Again, incorrect. As long as you're not involved in a criminal matter and considered a flight risk, civil matters cannot restrict your freedom - to include leaving the country and simply circular filing any notices they send you. Just don't count on returning. It's not like they'll extradite you for something petty like civil damages.
If you want to do things the proper way, I'll admit that the US system is not the cheapest. Still, it's a relatively easy matter to retain a lawyer yourself and, depending on the circumstances, negotiate a settlement out of court or even have the lawyer do all the court duties. You don't even have to show up necessarily.
For something like a car accident - I suggest buying the rental insurance policy. Then if you're in an accident, you give them that insurance information and that's likely the last you'll hear from them. I was in a fender-bender accident and that's what happened for me.
While there are certainly horror stories - these can happen in other countries as well. Most cases don't end up going all the way to the supreme court, after all. You can be held liable wherever you go. Heck, if I had gotten into an accident(vehicle or otherwise) in Germany I would have sought representation as well to figure out my liability.
Things get even more interesting if you are arabic-looking, or if you have done anything that american law does not approve of (even if it was legal in the country where the act was committed!). In either case, the risk of going to the US increases considerably.
We constantly fight against racial profiling, but this can be true, I'm afraid to admit. As for doing things against US law - it doesn't matter if it was legal where you did it(if you're not a US citizen). Doing it in the USA can cause issues - The latest I heard about was a woman who was importing and eating bush meat(monkeys). She's looking at a number of felonies, but it was clear that she knew it was illegal here - she was smuggling it in under fish.
For example, we aren't go throwing you in prison for naming a stuffed animal.
*Very good advice regardless of where you're going: Leave an intinerary with somebody you trust, and keep them updated.
**the US allows individual states and sometimes even municipalities such as cities to pass their own laws
I don't read AC A human right