Had most of the rocks quarried and everything. The slaves are going to be pissed.
| Quote: |
Egypt to copyright pyramids
CAIRO (AFP) — In a potential blow to themed resorts from Vegas to Tokyo, Egypt is to pass a law requiring payment of royalties whenever its ancient monuments, from the pyramids to the sphinx, are reproduced. Zahi Hawass, the charismatic and controversial head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told AFP on Tuesday that the move was necessary to pay for the upkeep of the country’s thousands of pharaonic sites.
“The new law will completely prohibit the duplication of historic Egyptian monuments which the Supreme Council of Antiquities considers 100-percent copies,” he said. “If the law is passed then it will be applied in all countries of the world so that we can protect our interests,” Hawass said. He said that a ministerial committee had already agreed on the law which should be passed in the next parliamentary session, while insisting the move would not hurt Egyptian artisans. “It is Egypt’s right to be the only copyright owner for these monuments in order to benefit financially so we can restore, preserve and protect Egyptian monuments.”
More...
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| Quote: |
| 1CIt is Egypt 19s right to be the only copyright owner for these monuments in order to benefit financially so we can restore, preserve and protect Egyptian monuments. 1D |
I certainly find this a very interesting quote, and wait to see what others' opinions on this would be.
However, I'm going to move this into "Discuss World News" forum.Does this mean i have to pay Egypt money whenever i make a pyramid out of Lego 
I can see the logic behind this; Egypt effectively owns 'the pyramid, the sphinx etc.', and so should be entitled to royalities whenever it is reproduced. In effect it is kinda like a tax (a pyramid tax). Such taxes happen on bridges, so why shouldn't it happen on other things. But, it seems like the sort of law that is there but no-one pays any attention to (like speeding 
).
It will be interesting to see what happens in the future regarding this. 1: Don't copyrights expire after say, 3000 years?
2: Suppose I built a pyramid and a sphinx in say, North Korea, and refused to pay Egypt anything. What would they do about it?
3: How do they figure the copyrights should be owned by the modern government? Royalties should be payed to 'the estate of Ramses', or whoever originally designed them.
4: Suppose the USA decided to do the same thing with the statue of liberty... Would the USA own the copyright or would France?
| ocalhoun wrote: |
1: Don't copyrights expire after say, 3000 years?
2: Suppose I built a pyramid and a sphinx in say, North Korea, and refused to pay Egypt anything. What would they do about it?
3: How do they figure the copyrights should be owned by the modern government? Royalties should be payed to 'the estate of Ramses', or whoever originally designed them.
4: Suppose the USA decided to do the same thing with the statue of liberty... Would the USA own the copyright or would France?
|
I agree, if you are suggesting that this is utter nonsense. How ludicrous can one get? The notion is laughable.
Do the descendants of Aztecs and Mayans have to pay residual royalties now since Egypt had an older step pyramid? There are numerous ancient cultures that built pyramids!
Will I never again see a 4-sided die in an RPG game? (Maybe the Egyptians will only tax pyramids based on sqaures.)
Respectfully,
Mhuuummmm
i'm a compulsive doodler - get me near some paper and any kind of writing instrument and off i go. looking at it afterwards i do find quite alot of pyramids there.... yes, i know what freud would say.
do i have to totally restrain myself ro train myself just to doodle in the round???
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
cheers
very interesting. I hope this doesn't happen to other structures. There are some people who like to replicate cities in miniature sizes and display it as art. sounds a bit ridiculous.
But does this make anyone wonder what they can do to make more money for the upkeep of the pyramids?
| tidruG wrote: |
| But does this make anyone wonder what they can do to make more money for the upkeep of the pyramids? |
No, not really. Structures come and go. Heck, even the pyramids were stripped of stone to help build newer structures many years ago. (Hence the reason the surfaces only look relatively smooth near the top.)
Maintaining historic structures is a problem that any government or other organization with a desire to preserve them must face. However proposing some nonsensical, pie-in-the-sky tax is not proper planning and far beneath someone in Mr. Hawass' position.
But one must strike a balance between enjoying them and preserving them. The best way to preserve them would be to bury them. The next best thing would be to completely seal them off from public access and seriously limit academic access. But in either case, no one would really be able to enjoy them.
I'm wandering off on tangents, but it boils down to the fact that this is Egypt's problem. And taxing the world is not a solution. If other countries wish to help or set up some ancient structure preservation program through the UN, that would make sense.
Respectfully,
MExactly what kind of maintenance does a pyramid require? It sat there for thousands of years with little or no maintenance at all.
If need be, they could fence the area off and charge people admission. (A small, reasonable amount of course, with free admission to Egyptian citizens: to anybody other than locals, the price would be insignificant compared to what they spent to get there.)
You can't copyright architecture,if you could most of the worlds buildings,including a lot in egypt would be paying royalties to the greeks and the italians.
^ Or to the Neanderthal who invented the concept of 'roof'.
| ocalhoun wrote: |
1: Don't copyrights expire after say, 3000 years?
2: Suppose I built a pyramid and a sphinx in say, North Korea, and refused to pay Egypt anything. What would they do about it?
|
They will send "The Mummy" after you 
| paul_indo wrote: |
| ocalhoun wrote: | 1: Don't copyrights expire after say, 3000 years?
2: Suppose I built a pyramid and a sphinx in say, North Korea, and refused to pay Egypt anything. What would they do about it?
|
They will send "The Mummy" after you |
Oh no!
*panics*
Oh, wait!
Kim Jong Il will protect me!
I really shouldn't be telling you this, but he really likes pyramids. (If you're reading this Kim, I'm sorry!) | ocalhoun wrote: |
| paul_indo wrote: | | ocalhoun wrote: | 1: Don't copyrights expire after say, 3000 years?
2: Suppose I built a pyramid and a sphinx in say, North Korea, and refused to pay Egypt anything. What would they do about it?
|
They will send "The Mummy" after you |
Oh no!
*panics*
Oh, wait!
Kim Jong Il will protect me!
I really shouldn't be telling you this, but he really likes pyramids. (If you're reading this Kim, I'm sorry!) |
i know this is off threat but i just had to say this.
now he is the boss, yes?
he's got no metal on his chest whatsoever... well, 2 buttons and a zip
now the guy behind him can hardly move he's so heavy
is he his own personal "medal bearer"
just wondered
cheers^I think he's going for the simple, elegant, not-involved-with-the-military look there.
There is some measure of poetic justice to be found here. After developing countries have been forced by industrialized nations to accept radically extended patent laws in genetics and life sciences, where rights are awarded not only on genetically engineered plants and animals but also on the mere discovery of gene sequences and where folks like Monsantos force unfertile monocropping on many millions, I can sympathize with Egypt's endevour. After all, is the copyright on a pyramid any more ludicrous than a patent on a cow?
