Sharjah 24: The Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association (ERRA) participated in the inaugural regional conference on contemporary judicial trends for safeguarding intellectual property rights in both traditional and digital environments.
The conference was held in Cairo from 5 - 7 March and was organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The conference comprised a number of panel discussions, during which Majd Al Shehhi, director of (ERRA), participated in a session titled ‘Emerging Issues in Copyright: National Economic and Social Development (The Publishing Industry).’
The session was skillfully moderated by Shereen Grace, senior programme-management officer specialising in the copyright sector and creative industries at WIPO.
During the conference, Al-Shehhi emphasised the significance of this inaugural event in the region, as it provided a vital platform to discuss the challenges faced by competent authorities and organisations in safeguarding the intellectual property rights of writers, publishers, and content creators at a regional level.
She further stressed the need to explore strategies and opportunities to establish an integrated system capable of overcoming these challenges, thereby promoting innovation and creativity, encouraging investment, and supporting the sustainable development of the creative and cultural economy in the region.
Al Shehhi also acknowledged the crucial role played by specialised copyright protection organisations, such as the Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association, in managing the intellectual property rights of authors and publishers.
She stated: “At the association, we firmly believe that copyright is fundamental in promoting progress and innovation. As such, we are dedicated to creating a suitable framework that benefits both authors and publishers and ensures a fair balance between the rights of copyright holders and the users of their works in the UAE.”
The session proved to be highly informative, offering valuable insights into the obstacles faced by the field of copyright in the digital era and the implications of such challenges on national development.
The discussion also centred on various emerging issues in the copyright sector, particularly those relating to the publishing industry, including the challenges faced by the Arab publishing sector, the role of the judiciary in combating digital piracy, and rights management. These topics, and others relevant to the session’s theme, were also explored in depth.
Apart from Al-Shehhi, the session featured a distinguished panel of experts, including Amal Ammar, Egyptian assistant minister of justice for the human, women, and child rights Sector; Muhammad Afifi, a writer and professor of contemporary history at Cairo University in Egypt; Dr Hisham Azmy, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Culture in Egypt; Muhammad Rashad, president of the Arab Publishers Union; and Samuel Sanghwa, regional director of the International Federation of Societies of Authors and Composers in Africa.
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