Geographical Indication (GI) options for Ethiopian Coffee and Ghanaian Cocoa

Innovation & Intellectual Property
very little or nothing about copyright law in Egypt. 6 Additionally, the majority
of musicians felt that the copyright regime was irrelevant to the art industry at
large and to their own work. Only two out of 24 musicians thought copyright
reform mattered, and stated it would only be effective if it shifted the balance of
power away from production companies in favour of musicians. Hosam Loutfi,
member of the Law Committee in the Supreme Council of Culture (and an IP
lawyer), shed light on the lack of awareness of copyright in Egypt. He pointed out
that independent musicians do not seek out the options available to them, and
thus are not aware of how they could benefit from copyright (Loutfi, 2012). This
perspective also explains the process by which copyright may have been rendered
irrelevant in the minds of musicians.
Second, the musicians’ perception of the lack of relevance of copyright could
be deduced from their answers to questions on the obstacles hindering music and
creativity in Egypt. None of the musicians cited the copyright regime as a main
obstacle. Instead, they cited the role of production companies, media and government
bureaucracy as the main obstacles. Furthermore, responses from other
stakeholders also did not place importance on copyright. Dr. Ahmed El Maghraby,
owner of Makan art outlet, 7 felt that, despite the existence of copyright in Egypt,
the main obstacle facing musicians is the corrupt judicial process and court system,
which hinder any protection that copyright could otherwise give to musicians
(El Maghraby, 2012). Ahmed Mohamed, Partner and General Manager of
Studio Vibe, mentioned the music syndicate laws as a major hindrance, since their
requirements are too restrictive for young independent musicians. To illustrate
this, Mohamed spoke of how requirements seek to compel musicians to be members
of the syndicate in order to perform when, in fact, nowadays some young
musicians have not reached the required membership age (Mohamed, 2012).
Third, copyright’s lack of relevance is compounded by its absence as an incentive
to musicians. Two main perspectives were voiced regarding copyright’s apparent
failure to incentivise. One view was that the legal coercion associated with
enforcing copyright is a hindrance to musicians. Among the respondents voicing
this view was Tarek Metwalli, founder of Who’s Jammin?, 8 a digital platform
composed of a worldwide private social network of musicians categorised by city
and instrument. Metwalli spoke of copyright as a major obstacle in building a
relationship between musicians and their consumer base. From his perspective,
6 Despite the musicans’ little knowledge of the EIPRL, two musicians had heard of Creative
Commons, and three felt that Creative Commons licensing would bring improvement to the
Egyptian music landscape.
7 Makan is an art outlet in Cairo oriented towards cultural and heritage preservation/awareness.
8 A list of services provided by Who’s Jammin? can be found at Who’s Jammin? (n.d.).
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