COPYRIGHT PIRATES THRIVE IN EGYPT.

Egypt's reputation as a center for the piracy of copyrighted material worsened in 2004. Despite improvements in copyright law, enforcement is lacking. During 2004, organized crime syndicates reportedly were able to reinforce their position with retail markets and flooded these distribution channels with pirated product.

The situation is not expected to improve soon.

These observations are contained in a "2005 Special 301 Report" issued by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a trade association representing a coalition of six major trade associations with 1,500 member U. S. companies. The "301" in the title refers to Section 301 of the (U.S.) Trade Act of 1974 allowing individuals and companies to petition the U. S. Government to investigate "unfair" trade practices in international markets. According to USA Today the piracy of copyrighted material costs companies worldwide US$19-billion every year. Music, movies, and software are the most commonly pirated materials, and book piracy thrives as well. USA Today sourced the U. S. Department of Justice (USDJ) on the total loss number. The IIPA as well as countries other than the U. S. who have an interest in protecting indigenous copyright industries, are anxious for oversight of piracy in Egypt to be passed to Egypt's progressive Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). The MCIT is likely to be more aggressive in dealing with the home-grown pirates. Notwithstanding its negative comments about the Egyptian market, the IIPA acknowledged that during 2004, Egypt did take some actions against piracy. Cairo has an Anti-Piracy Police unit, which has recently become more active. But, says the IIPA, actions were taken mostly against small pirate retailers. The IIPA says that U. S. companies lost approximately US$72.5-million to Egyptian pirates in 2004. The trade group, however, did not supply figures for pirated movies or entertainment software (games). Market: Africa/Mid-East estimates that the total loss for U. S. companies in Egypt, therefore, is higher at about US$113.8-million. The U. S. is not the only country to lose out to Egyptian pirates. Market: Africa/Mid-East estimates that the total market for pirate copyrighted material in Egypt is between US$207.1-million and US$247.4-million. Pirate product categories are: Movies, Records and Music, Business Software, Entertainment Software, and Books. Marketers are cautioned that market estimates for pirated material are notoriously inaccurate (including our own). The Business Software Alliance (BSA), for example, claims that, worldwide, software companies alone lose US$29-billion to pirates; the IIPA says piracy costs U. S. companies in total US$32-billion annually including business software and the USDJ says total worldwide loses are US$19-billion, as mentioned above.

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