Record stores in Egypt, who specialize in making pirated copies of CDs, have taken advantage of the popularity Egyptian singer Ruby has made in such a short time to make profit off her two songs. Owners of record stores have inserted Ruby's songs into mixed cassettes and gave them the title Ruby attracting customers.
According to the London based Elaph, despite the fact that the singer has not produced any albums and just released her songs as singles, tapes with her name on them are becoming to be big sales around every corner street in Egypt. It was revealed that the tapes are selling for 5 Egyptian pounds a piece. Pirating is one of the biggest problems faced in Egypt, where pirated copies of albums are sold for only 25% of the original's price.
The Egyptian Music Association has filed a complaint against Ruby for singing without obtaining a permit and not being a part of the association, which every singer must be a member of. The Association also decided to file a second lawsuit against the production company that produced Ruby’s songs and filmed them in the form of a video clip, which is considered an illegal act according to the Association’s article 8 of their laws and regulations for 2003.
The officials of the association also discussed the improper and shameful appearance of Ruby in both of her music videos, which were directed by Sharif Sabri. In the first video Ruby appears in a belly dancer’s costume dancing in the streets, and in the second she is wearing a very indecent red dress and a training suit, which reveals most of her body. In the second clip Ruby is basically seductively moving her body without dancing just highlighting her most attractive features.
Ruby’s videos were considered foolish holding no significant meaning just arousing chaos among members of the Egyptian Parliament stressing that she insults the ethical religious norms of society. Members of Parliament also demanded that Ruby’s music videos be banned from airing on all Egyptian channels, a request which has been implemented a couple of weeks ago.
On her part, Ruby defended her videos by stressing they hold simple ideas, which the director thought of. She added that in her first video she simply wears a belly dancer’s costume which is part of Egyptian folklore and holds no negative aspect to it and should not be considered improper. –Albawaba.com
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
