The unrevealed trauma - Dubai Women's College - Higher Colleges ...

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All your rights are reserved
MARIAM AL FALASI
Will your simple rights declaration protect your artwork? Mariam Al Falasi /DWC
Sitting in her home office, Mariam
Bin Natoof, the founder of Natoof
Design, who has created unique
wedding invitations since 2005,
received a photo on her mobile
from a family member with a
message saying “Check this out,
this looks similar to your designs.”
Looking closely at the photo Bin
Natoof realized this did not look
similar to her design, it looked
exactly the same. “I asked my
cousin to send me the actual card,
and to my amazement the design
was a duplicate, they did not even
bother to change the colors,” said
Bin Natoof. She assertively added,
“I took all the necessary steps to
warn the violator and began the
process of legal action.”
They say imitation is the highest
form of flattery, but would you
honestly feel flattered if someone
else was making money from
your hard work? The obvious
declaration of your rights on the
artwork usually does not stop
copyright violation. How can you
protect your work?
UAE law provides the necessary
support for all artistic creators;
the copyright law protects paintings,
drawings, photographic
work, graphics, as well as subjects
like literary work, music and
speeches. Yet, most individual
professionals and freelancers in
the creative field either are not
aware of this law, or they are not
bothered to take action. More
surprisingly, certain groups of
people think the law does not
exist or it does not penalize the
violators.
Since 2002 Aljoud Lootah has
been freelancing as a graphic
designer. She started her own
design line with Niftee Fashion
in 2007. Lootah accomplished a
stunning amount of creative work
for government companies and
private events. Her work gets
more recognition each day and
being in the spotlight increases
her risk of being copied. Still,
Lootah has not registered her
artwork as she explained, “I am
not familiar with the exact legal
rights of my designs.” The absence
of knowledge and awareness
about the law is evident among
designers. “The law for copyrighting
designs in the UAE is not clear,
at least not to us the designers,”
Lootah noted.
Professional designers who have
been in the business for a long
time are more serious about the
violation of their copyrights,
whereas young freelancers seem to
be helpless about the situation. “I
am sure legal action will cost me
money and probably I will
not be able to afford it; therefore,
I cannot go after them,” said
Najla, 21, a fresh graphic designer
graduate. “And I am not sure if
there is an actual punishment
in our law for copying work,”
she added.
Others are completely unaware
of the necessary action and are in
need of guidance. Hessa Mohamed
designed an original artwork
piece for her wedding invitation
back in 2008 and she assigned
the production to Al Banafsaj, a
well-known wedding invitation
printing factory in Sharjah. In the
following years, Mohamed saw
a replica of her invitation in four
different weddings; two of them
were produced by the same factory,
certainly without considering her
rights or asking permission. “I
did not take any action because I
did not have time and had no idea
where or how to start,” Mohamed
explained.
Moon Night is a wedding services
shop in Ajman, and it reproduced
Natoof Design’s creation. Upon
examination, the displayed wedding
invitations all had different
signatures on the back covers.
One said “By Maryam Al Juzairi,”
another card mentioned “By Al
Sabahya for Weddings,” and of
course there was a design “By
Natoof” among them. The shop
assistant openly stated that all
of these names belong to the
shop’s designers. When the owner
Mohammad, in the business for
the past 20 years, was confronted
about the copied work, he hesitated
for a moment and said, “This is
what we do, if a client comes with
a photo for another invitation or
a sample and wants us to create
the same, I cannot say no because
I will lose the client and someone
else will take the job.” Obviously
Mohammad is aware of the copyright
law in the UAE and knows
about the legal implications if
he were ever caught. However,
he is not worried about it as he
explains, “I know a person has the
right to protect his or her work;
I would be upset if someone else
copied my stage designs because
they are my original pieces. I
have been working for a long
time in this business and never
been pursued about the copied
work because everyone is doing
it.” Whether to show some regret
or just to avoid answering more
questions, the owner agreed to
remove all the copied invitations
from the shop by Natoof Design.
THEY SAY
IMITATION IS THE
HIGHEST FORM OF
FLATTERY, BUT
WOULD YOU
HONESTLY FEEL
FLATTERED IF
SOMEONE ELSE
WAS MAKING
MONEY FROM
YOUR HARD WORK?
With one click on Google, you
will find hundreds of articles
and documents explaining the
copyright law in the UAE. One
of the leading law firms in the
region, ‘Al Tamimi and Company’
clearly explains that the UAE has
enforced the copyright law since
1994 and it has been amended
over the years (UAE Copyright
Law – Law No. 7 of 2002). “The
UAE Copyright Law is similar to
other nations laws and protects
copyrighted work regardless of
whether it is registered or not,”
said Lara Ababneh, senior associate
at Al Tamimi and Company.
Full documentation about the
copyright law in the UAE can be
accessed on Al Tamimi’s website:
http://www.tamimi.com, under
the title “Copyright Law.”
Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property
is another law firm that specializes
in registering trademarks, patents,
designs and copyrights. The firm
provides more elaboration on the
possible penalties for copyright
violation. “The first step would
be issuing a warning letter to the
person who violated the law, asking
them to immediately withdraw
the copied artwork,” said Rami,
a senior IP assistant. “Then, if
the person does not respond, the
case will go to court.” In court, the
judge will issue the appropriate
penalty based on the crime. The
punishment can start with paid
fines and can move to prison sen-
tences to closure of the business.
All intellectual property rights are
maintained by the UAE Federal
Ministry of Economy. The division
is segregated into three departments:
Trade Mark, Industrial
Property, and Copyright. The
copyright department handles
the implementation of the law,
accepting the applications to
register the rights, issuing the
copyright certificates for the
owners, receiving complaints and
following up with the court cases.
Innovation can diminish when
the market encourages people to
copy each other’s work. Individuals
who produce original work should
seek protection and take action
whenever their rights are violated.
Only then will copyright criminals
think twice before they replicate
and use other’s work. “Ultimately,
it is the responsibility of the
owners to protect their work and
hence they should invest time in
pursuing the violators and take
the proper action through their
attorneys,” Ababneh concluded.