The two-week campaign, the first of its kind in the region, is part of the ministry’s plans to educate the general public about the need to protect copyrights and intellectual property rights and the effect of such a practice on the national economy.

The campaign is targeting all categories of the society using all the media tools, including the print and the electronic media in both Arabic and English, to educate the public about all aspects of copyrights and intellectual rights.

In a statement to launch the campaign in the presence of a number of senior officials from the ministry and copyrights experts, the Minister noted the great efforts being exerted by all the various institutions in the country and his ministry in educating the public on the significance of protecting copyrights and intellectual rights, as well as the important role that plays in boosting the nation’s comprehensive development march, adding that the country is, by this campaign, aiming to create a peaceful environment, free of any form of infringement on and violation of the rights of others, to avoid its negative impact on the culture of creativity and copyrights of authors and others.

He pointed out that the country’s efforts to stamp out this ugly practice began since the founding of the UAE federation in 1971, when a number of legislations to protect copyrights and intellectual rights were promulgated, adding that the UAE constitution has clearly made provisions in those efforts as manifested in Article 21 and Article 121.

He pledged the commitment of his ministry and the UAE government in general to eliminate all forms of challenges and obstacles caused by piracy, which, he said, would be eliminated by lawful means to consolidate the status of the UAE on the world map of confidence.

He cited some statistical reports on piracy in the UAE, saying that the fight being waged by his ministry against this canker was yielding great results as piracy rate stood at 35% in 2008 to put the UAE at the top spot in the Arab world in the fight against piracy. He also said his ministry had received 621 copyrights protection applications in 2009, while 520 companies have also applied at the ministry to register patent rights in the importation and distribution of goods and services. He put the number of trade marks registered at his ministry so far at 97,523 trade marks.