ECONOMY-EGYPT: Copyright, Not Right to Copy

By Cam McGrath Reprint | | Print |

Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Jul 10 2002 (IPS) - Vendors selling illegal copies of software, CDs, videos and brand name goods are doing business in streets all over Egypt, but new legislation could soon change that.

After two years of debate, Egypt’s parliament passed legislation last month to bring outdated intellectual property rights (IPR) laws in line with standards outlined in the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement.

Signed in 1995 as a part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) charter, TRIPS is the most comprehensive international treaty on IPR. Analysts say the new law in Egypt will fulfil its membership commitments to the WTO and encourage foreign investors.

“We are now 99 per cent in conformity with the agreement,” says law professor Mohammed Hossam Loutfi, a legal consultant who helped draft the law.

The new law replaces legislation passed in 1954. It has 200 articles divided into four sections covering patents, trademarks, copyright and new plant varieties. It exceeds the standards set in TRIPS in some areas such as copyright protection, but falls short in others.

“TRIPS states conditions, the new IPR law gives cases,” Loutfi says. “Whenever you decide to give specific cases it means that you are not allowed to do something in different cases.”

The crucial test will come in pharmaceuticals. Egypt is the largest producer of generic drugs in the Middle East and Africa. These are mostly cheap copies of patented medicines. Local pharmaceuticals firms fear the new law could put them out of business. The law will not apply to drugs patented before 1995, but aims to stop local manufacturers violating the rights of new patent holders.

Opponents of the law argue that the cost of cancer, AIDS and hepatitis treatments may now climb beyond the reach of the poor. But it is Viagra that has the press up in arms. The Ministry of Health recently awarded Pfizer Egypt, a subsidiary of the U.S. drug manufacturer that introduced the anti-impotence drug in 1998, sole licence to produce and distribute Viagra in Egypt.

Several Egyptian publications have accused the government of putting intellectual property ahead of public health. “Although 15 local companies tendered their applications to the Pharmaceutical Policies and Planning Centre in order to manufacture Viagra in Egypt, it swiftly selected the Pfizer company to produce the magic blue pills, without giving any reason or justification,” the weekly magazine Al-Mussawar wrote. It asked why Pfizer, which plans to market Viagra at six dollars a pill, was awarded the licence when local firms have offered to produce it for about a dollar.

Pfizer spokesman Dr. Ahmed El-Hakim says his company has invested enormous money, time and effort in developing Viagra. He says the price, cheapest in the world, can hardly be seen as unreasonable.

Local pharmaceuticals firms, he says, can offer generic drugs cheap because they spend almost nothing on research and development. “It is very easy to copy a drug using reverse engineering,” he says.

Illegal copying of music cassettes and CDs is far easier. The old 1954 copyright law provided no barriers to illegally copying and distributing an album once it passed the censors. Almost all international releases sold in Egypt were pirated copies.

With the passing of the new IPR law, local companies that mass produced pirated copies are scrambling for legitimacy. Mirage Records, which is believed to control 60 per cent of the pirated music market, recently signed a deal with Universal, which seeks to take advantage of Mirage’s distribution network.

“People naturally prefer to buy an original,” says a street vendor selling pirated copies of albums. “Some of these copies are really bad quality, some are downright awful. But at least they’re cheap.”

The new legislation also targets unlicensed computer software, which industry experts say accounts for more than half the software used in Egypt. Software companies say piracy costs them an estimated 12 million dollars a year and drives up the price of their products.

“The new law for the first time prohibits ‘personal use’ copies of software,” says Loutfi. “The only acceptable duplication of software is a backup copy.”

Loutfi says the new IPR law will effectively reduce piracy in all forms, and this in turn will bring down the price of original goods. “We have to educate people not to buy counterfeit goods, but we have to also give them an opportunity to obtain original products at reasonable prices,” he says.