Arab World : Egypt

EgyptInstitutions

Public administrations focusing on books

  • State publisher
    The National Center for Translation / The Egyptian General Book Organization / The General Authority for Cultural Palaces / The Egyptian Museum / The Library of Alexandria

    Public institution Function: To support book and reading policies

  • Directorate for Books
    The Egyptian General Book Organization

    Public institution Function: To support book and reading policies

  • Ministry of Culture
    Ministry of Culture

    State foundation Function: To carry out a cultural policy

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Professional associations

  • Authors' associations
    The Egyptian Writers Union

    Federation Function: To bring together writing professionals

  • Publishers' associations
    Egyptian Publishers Union

    Federation Function: To bring together publishing professionals
    Comments

    Member of the Arab Publishers union and the International Publishers Union (IPA)

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Observatory

  • Observatory and survey
    National Library / Library of Alexandria / Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics

    Public institution Function: To inventory
    Comments

    The Arab Publishers Union recently began issuing an annual study on the status of the Arab book market, with a special focus on several countries, including Egypt.

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University programmes on books

  • Professional training
    Egyptian Universities

    University Function: To train in library and information professions

    Many Egyptian universities have departments in their faculties of arts that teach subjects related to library science, and their degree is usually called a Bachelor of Arts in Documentation and Library Studies.

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EgyptPublic policies

Market regulation

  • Regulation of digital trade

    Regulation Function: To regulate

    Global Center for E-Commerce Protection

  • Opinions of professionals

    The publishing scene in Egypt does not exhibit a high degree of centralization.

    The percentage of supplied books in the total available in libraries is small.

    The percentage of national publishing (with local capital) that secures public contracts for libraries is unknown.

    The percentage of multinational or foreign groups that obtain public contracts for public and university libraries is also unknown.

    The total value of public contracts for school books in Egypt is 17 billion Egyptian pounds.

    Public contracts for school books are not obtained through a clear and transparent bidding process.

    The percentage of national publishing (with local capital) that secures public contracts for school books is unknown.

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Signing of international agreements

  • Nairobi Protocol

    International agreement Function: Free circulation of cultural goods

    Accession, not ratification, 1981/9/18

  • WIPO Copyright Treaty

    International agreement Function: Protection of literary and artistic works

  • Florence Agreement

    International agreement Function: Free circulation of cultural goods

    Signature 22/11/1950

    Ratification 8/2/1952

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Copyright law

  • Berne Convention

    International agreement Function: Protection of literary and artistic works

    Berne Convention in 1883 / Paris Act in 1971

  • WIPO Copyright Treaty

    Law Function: Protection of literary and artistic works

    Law 82 of 2002 – Book Three: Copyright and Neighboring Rights

  • Protection of traditional cultural expressions

    Law Function: Protection of literary and artistic works

    Law No. 82 of 2002 – Book Three: Copyright and Neighboring Rights

  • Regulation of the public domain

    Law Function: To regulate moral and patrimonial rights, and their duration

    Law No. 82 of 2002 – Book Three: Copyright and Neighboring Rights

  • Management of copyright

    Law Function: To regulate moral and patrimonial rights, and their duration

    Law No. 82 of 2002 – Book Three: Copyright and Neighboring Rights

  • Protection of heritage rights

    Law Function: To regulate moral and patrimonial rights, and their duration

    Law No. 82 of 2002 – Book Three: Copyright and Neighboring Rights

    The lifetime of the author plus fifty years after their death.

  • Regulation of copyright and translation rights

    Law Function: To regulate moral and patrimonial rights, and their duration

    There is no clear mention of translators and their rights, except as they are considered “owners of neighboring rights,” to whom the same provisions of the law stipulated in the Copyright Protection Law apply.

  • Opinions of professionals

    Current discussions related to copyright in Egypt include: the duration of copyright protection after the author’s death and the failure of some publishers to pay authors’ rights.

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Support for creation and publishing

  • Support for co-publishing

    Public program Function: To support book and reading policies
    Subsidy Function: To support book and reading policies
    Comments

    The Ministry of Culture supports the publication of some works through grants for authors, and the National Center for Translation adopts a policy of co-publishing with private publishing houses (but this policy stopped after the COVID-19 pandemic).

  • Support for literary creation

    Public program Function: To support book and reading policies

    There are small grants for authors provided by the state through the Ministry of Culture.

  • Support for tanslation (intra-extra)

    Fund Function: To support book and reading policies

    This support is exclusively benefited by government publishers: the National Center for Translation, the Egyptian General Book Organization, and the General Authority for Cultural Palaces.

  • Support for the presence of publishing houses at international fairs

    Fund Function: To promote

    There is partial support from the Export Support Fund in Egypt, managed by the Egyptian General Authority for Exhibitions.

  • Opinions of professionals

    The three essential measures to support the publishing sector are: facilitating bank loans, developing the distribution network, and combating piracy.

    There are funds to support authors: the author submits a request to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and receives a small amount.

    There are also funds to support publishers and/or book publishing: there is support for Egyptian publishers to participate in Arab and international fairs, which involves complex procedures through the General Authority for Exhibitions, and this can be considered indirect support for publishers.

    There are no funds specifically for supporting translation, but there is government support for translation in Egypt that is available to government publishing institutions.

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Cultural policies

  • Literacy

    Public program Function: To carry out a cultural policy
    Comments

    The statistics are conducted by the Egyptian General Authority for Statistics.

  • Opinions of professionals

    • The main challenges related to public policies for books include weak regulatory frameworks and ineffective intellectual property rights protection laws. There is no unified law regulating the book sector in Egypt. However, among the positives in the legal and institutional situation in the sector are the existence of a national archive for books in Egypt and the availability of support for publishing that allows for the issuance of popular editions of many notable titles.

      Penalties should be intensified by making imprisonment mandatory and imposing a penalty of restitution equal to the benefit gained by the infringer.

    In recent years, the state has imposed increased control and restrictions on the book market to suppress any critical voices against the authority.

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Freedom of expression

  • Obligation to declare publications

    Regulation Function: To control

    A subsequent license request is made by depositing a copy at the National Library and Documentation House.

    A preliminary copy of the book is not deposited; instead, a request is made for the book cover and a summary, and sometimes the book’s index. These are new procedures implemented in the last five years

  • Control or regulation of content

    Law Functions: To regulate and to control

    The National Media Authority Law

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Taxes

  • Nairobi Protocol

    International agreement Function: To facilitate the importation of educational, cultural, or scientific items

    Accession, not ratification, 1981/9/18

  • Full rate of VAT

    Exemption Function: To facilitate the importation of educational, cultural, or scientific items

    Book sales are exempt from value-added tax (VAT) in Egypt.

  • Exemption or specific tax system for books

    General tax code

    There are general taxes on both printed and electronic books: income taxes.

    There are also taxes on the supply of books

  • Taxation on IT equipment

    General tax code

  • Taxation on paper

    General tax code

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International standards and book identification

  • Obligations relating to book identification data (ISBN, ISSN, ISN, RPI, etc.)

    Regulation Function: To record

    The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) extraction in Egypt is free. The National Library and Documentation House purchases it and provides it to Egyptian publishers at no cost, provided that the local deposit requirements are met, such as submitting a summary of the book, its cover, a copy of the author’s ID, etc. Membership in the Egyptian Publishers Union is also required.

    Five copies plus one electronic copy must be deposited at the National Library and Documentation House.

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Piracy of physical books and free book download sites

  • Opinions of professionals

    The counterfeiting of books in print and the piracy of books online affect the book market.

    The responsibility for addressing these two phenomena lies with state institutions. To tackle these issues, we need several coordinated solutions: first, promoting public libraries to ensure that those who cannot afford to buy books have access to them; second, imposing regulations on street vendors selling books; and third, providing facilities for private libraries to secure a larger market share compared to street vendors. Additionally, there are other policies related to paper markets and other book production supplies.

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Public procurement

  • Opinions of professionals

    There are no significant public purchases for books in local languages.

    The total financial value of public purchases for public libraries is unknown.

    The total financial value of public purchases for university libraries is also unknown.

    Public contracts for books for public and university libraries are not obtained through a clear and transparent bidding process.

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Support for public reading and book distribution

  • Opinions of professionals

    There are no funds to support libraries.

    There are also no funds to support the travel of authors and/or publishers (to attend book fairs or for other commercial missions abroad).

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