They described the “Copyrights Management” association as a point of light that they hoped would spread in the Arab world

Writers and publishers: The UAE is a pioneer in preserving the rights of creators

• The association acts as the legal umbrella responsible for regulating the relationship between publishers and readers on the one hand, and authors on the other.

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• Ali Al-Shaali: "Creativity always thrives in the presence of incentives and levers, the most important of which is the encouragement of society's respect for the creator and his product.. One of the forms of this respect is preserving rights."

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Creators and publishers affirmed that the establishment of the Emirates Society for Copyright Management is a cultural achievement that is consistent with their aspirations, and reflects the state's keenness to protect intellectual property rights, introduce professional mechanisms for licensing the use of written and illustrated works, and implement legislation that guarantees the protection of the rights of creators, describing the step as pioneering and pioneering, which would grant them Increasing confidence and pushing writers and publishers to further enrich creative content.

Intellectuals whom Emirates Today met expressed their hope that this initiative would expand at the Arab level, and that other countries would follow the example of the Emirates Society for Copyright Management.

Writer and publisher Jamal Al-Shehhi said, "The association is a win for intellectuals, writers, and creators in general, as the UAE always makes professional efforts to protect the creative rights of authors and publishers. These rights, and controlling the process of using them by linking them to clear legislation and laws that hold violators accountable.

He added, “I was one of the first publishers to register as a member of the new association, because it is able to protect us from the consequences of violating intellectual property rights, as it is the legal umbrella responsible for regulating the relationship of publishers with readers on the one hand and authors on the other, and thus protecting creative content from piracy and misinvestment.”

Watch the experiment

For his part, the poet Ahmed Al-Assam explained: “By virtue of my previous work in copyright and authorship at the Ministry of Economy, I was a witness to the eagerness of intellectuals and creators to take the initiative to register to protect their intellectual productions. Artistic, literary, and other frameworks.”

As a writer and poet, I see it as a solid and great future plan that provides me with a space of safety that will motivate me to innovate and create in the future, at a time when membership in this association, which will represent the largest incubator for creativity, will provide me with claiming my rights when needed, and then dealing with well-known publishers who are members of the association. And to ensure the smooth and safe operations of publishing, distributing and managing my books.

For her part, writer Salha Obaid confirmed, “The idea of ​​creating the association is based on recycling rights between users and beneficiaries - that is, publishers and writers - when any process of copying their creative, intellectual and academic works takes place. It is a source of life and a source of sustenance, not only as a source of creativity and a hobby, as society sometimes views it.

Perhaps the existence of this step will consolidate the idea of ​​a writing profession with regular returns based on the spread of the intellectual work of the creator.

Of course, awareness of this matter requires a long journey and multiple mechanisms for which the association has employed a strategy that focuses on internal organizational matters in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Culture and Universities, accompanied by continuous awareness campaigns to serve the beneficiaries of writers and publishers alike.

legal hand

For his part, the poet Adel Khouzam saw that the announcement of the establishment of the Emirates Association for Copyright Management generated great hope among publishers, and more so among authors who have suffered for years from the loss of their gains and from the inability of the Arab writer to pursue his material rights derived from the sale of books and publications, as well as the lack of Having a clear vision of the sales proceeds of Arab publishers and their quantities during book fairs.

And he continued: «There is no doubt that the launch of this association will lead to the legalization of this process, first by spreading a kind of rights to protect the publisher, whose losses are not calculated in the event that the books it publishes are piracy and copies, which is a well-known and common phenomenon in the Arab world and many suffer from it». His hope is that «the Emirates Association for Copyright Management will expand at the Arab level, and that it will have a legal hand capable of preventing such practices that greatly harm the Arab content industry, authorship, publishing, drawing and the rest of the arts».

Khouzam continued: “I hope that creators, artists and artists’ agents will join the membership of this association, because it puts the creator on the right path and enables him to guarantee at least part of his material rights due for his creations, as I see in it a beautiful point of light that I hope will expand its scope to be able to implement its goals and plans.” Perhaps, after a few years, it was a major and essential player in controlling the publishing process at the Emirati and Arab levels.

contrast concept

As for the founder of Dar Al-Hodhud for Publishing and Distribution, writer and publisher Ali Al-Shaali, he considered that “creativity always thrives in light of the presence of incentives and motives, the most important of which is the encouragement of society’s respect for the creator and his product, and among the forms of this respect is the issue of preserving the right that allows the creator, even partially, to reap the fruit of his creativity.” «In an advanced environment in several cultural and intellectual knowledge fields such as the UAE environment, where the book is located at the heart of the creative industries, it has become imperative that we take this pioneering step today, and keep pace with what is happening in documenting and protecting property in advanced environments that value creativity around the world, and then establish systems And rules that criminalize any intent to violate it.

And he recalled the leadership of the UAE in the Emirati Publishers Association, the largest and most active association in the Gulf Cooperation Council, to which a new leap is being added today. impact in the future.

• Piracy and copying of books is a well-known and common phenomenon in the Arab world, and many people suffer from it.

• In a culturally and intellectually advanced environment such as that of the Emirates, the book is located at the heart of the creative industries.

Tasks.. and returns

Majd Al-Shehhi, Director of the Emirates Society for Copyright Management, said: “To contribute to organizing and preserving the rights of creators in the UAE, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi took the initiative to support the efforts to establish the Society as the first association specialized in protecting the rights to copy prints and written and illustrated works in the Arab world. The association guarantees copyright and those concerned with creative content, including authors, publishers, and illustrators working in the book industry in the UAE, through appropriate laws and legislation, and assists in adopting policies and procedures that regulate the copying of works for research and educational purposes, according to clear controls.

And she added, “By joining the association, authors, publishers, and creative owners have copyright revenues when their work is reproduced by registered users who have a copyright license, whether inside or outside the country in more than 80 countries, through membership in the International Federation of Copyright Organizations (IFAO). Efro)».

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