Intellectual property is increasingly being recognized as an important
tool for economic development and wealth creation. Copyright, in
particular, can be a powerful catalyst within national economies.
Several studies have shown that comprehensive copyright legislation
sustained by effective enforcement mechanisms and an efficient
collective management structure can have a significant, measurable
impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP).The impetus of certain international instruments dealing with
intellectual property – such as the Agreement on the Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement) of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances
and Phonograms Treaty – has generated a vast amount of activity in
drafting new national copyright laws or revising existing ones.Under the TRIPs Agreement, for example, countries are not only
obliged to provide minimum standards of protection, but must also
ensure their effective enforcement. Copyright is taking an increasingly
central role on the legal stage. It is, therefore, imperative for the actors
involved in the task of implementing and enforcing copyright law – be
they judges, lawyers, customs officials or the police, rights-holders,
users – to possess a basic knowledge of how to interpret it.This publication aims to provide a valuable and practical tool for those
countries where court decisions in the copyright domain are scarce
or non-existent – either because copyright law is a fairly new
phenomenon or because existing legislation has not been extensively
applied.To that effect the publication examines a carefully selected number of
court decisions illustrating general principles of copyright law, drawn
from common law, civil law and the legislative systems of Arab
countries. As the basic principles illustrated here are to a large extent
commonly shared, many of the cases presented have a wider
relevance, going beyond the confines of the legal system of which
they form part.6
FOREWORD