The Egyptian Parliament’s Culture and Media Committee is gearing up for a meeting during June to discuss the Israeli stealing of Egyptian films, screening them on their small screen and marketing them inside Israel, according to the daily al Bayan.
The committee decided to call upon the Egyptian cinema sector and the acting and artistic associations to set an emergency plan to safeguard the Egyptian art copyrights in accordance with the World Trade Agreement. This is in addition to filing a suitcase against Israel for its illegal actions.
Nasserist and leftist lawmakers reiterated in an urgent letter to the Egyptian government the need to move and raise this affair internationally and bring Israel before the court. The parliamentarians urged the government to demand Israel one billion dollar in compensation for screening the films without prior consent from Egypt. They indicated that the acting and artistic associations announced their objection to normalization with Israel in addition to the fact that Egypt did not sign any agreement with Israel on trading art productions. Israel is committing actions of piracy against the Egyptian art without any deterrent, the MPs added.
The lawmakers strongly rejected the Israeli artist association’s head announcement that Israel would file a case at the international courts and a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Egypt to recover the original copies of 35 old films in which Jewish actors took starring roles. The Israeli association head claimed that screening such films by the Egyptian TV is considered an act of stealing the rights of Jews. She asked Egypt for financial compensation and the right of Israel in recovering the original copies of the films in which Laila Murad, Munir Murad and dancer Camellia, who were Jews residing in Egypt for a long time, took starring roles -- Albawaba.com
