Plastic painter Ghada Wali has sparked controversy over the past two days, after she was accused by a Russian artist Georgy Kurasov of stealing his paintings that were made by Wali on the walls of the Girls’ College metro station, as part of the cultural project at the third Green Line stations.
The incident dates back to Saturday, when Kurasov wrote on his official Facebook page: “My paintings were used in the Cairo subway without my permission and without even mentioning my name!”
The Russian painter added that he is waiting for an official response regarding the incident.
The National Authority for Tunnels and RATP Dev Cairo Transportation, the company responsible for operating the third Green Line, said they are closely following what is happening on social media and other media platforms.
This is now considered an act of plagiarism and intellectual property theft.
Ghada responded by saying that a contract was made with the agency “Wali’s Studio” for advertising, affiliated with Ghada Wali, to launch artistic designs for the cultural project at the third Green Line stations.
A legally binding clause was included in the contract stating that the advertising company is solely responsible for providing original artwork and in case of adaptation or reproduction, the company has to obtain formal legal approval from the artists behind those works authorizing their use, as is common practice with all artists .
The authority noted that there was in fact a prior termination of the contract with the advertising company, in March.
This was due to other reasons related to a breach of some terms of the contract and implementation.
The National Authority for Tunnels and the company RATP Dev Cairo Transportation, were not aware that these designs were illegally inspired by the paintings of a Russian artist, and that they were against any infringement of intellectual property rights in any way.
The authority added, “Accordingly, we are currently looking at the appropriate legal measures against the advertising company to preserve all rights of the National Authority for Tunnels and RATP Dev Transport Cairo.”
” If and when the allegations are proven, and accordingly, the illegally quoted designs will be changed.”
The National Authority for Tunnels apologized to the and to the public for this incident, stressing their full respect for the intellectual property rights of all inside and outside Egypt.
