Broadcast rights of 200 Egyptian movies and plays have been illegally sold to an Arab channel by a scammer, the Chamber of Cinema Industry at the Federation of Egyptian Industries disclosed.
The seller, who quoted a cheap rate of LE100 for a 2-year braodcast right for each item, convinced buyers at the Jordan-based Degla satellite channel that he was the real owner of the movies, showing them fake contracts which he alleged to have signed with some art production companies.
It said the suspect had shrewdly collected the material from internet websites and recorded them from some channels that screened them in high quality.
Chamber director Mohamed Hassan Ramzy labelled the incident “a catastrophe to the industry and production companies”, adding that such practices results in millions of pounds in daily losses to the industry.
Ramzy said the incident also revealed the need to amend notary laws. He added that the chamber told Culture Minister Gaber Asfour in a recent meeting to meet with the justice minister and discuss notary errors that allow scammers to forge broadcast rights.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
