Egypt’s Ministry of Culture has revised film and theater licensing regulations to dramatically reduce fees on additional copies of artistic works, in a move welcomed by filmmakers and playwrights.
The new rules, published Tuesday in the official gazette, set reduced rates for each additional copy of a film or play submitted to the Censorship Authority for public screening.
Critics, including the Cinema Industry Chamber and playwrights, called the old fees “excessive” and detrimental to small producers.
“It used to cost $5,000 per copy of a foreign film,” said Cinema Chamber head Hisham Abdel Khaleq. “If you wanted 10 copies, you had to pay $50,000. That was simply wrong.” After consultations, the ministry agreed to keep a higher fee only for the first copy, with minimal charges for additional ones.
For Egyptian films, the previous 2,000 Egyptian pounds per copy has now been replaced by a 2,000 pound fee for the first copy and 100 pounds for each subsequent one. Foreign film licenses dropped to $300 for the first copy and $10 thereafter.
Short local documentary films (less than 45 minutes in length) now have screening fees of 1,000 pounds for the first copy and 50 pounds for each subsequent copy. Foreign short documentary films will pay the equivalent of $60 rather than $500.
While the decision maintained licensing fees for theater proposals, scripts, and performances at 1,000 pounds, these were reduced to 100 pounds for young amateurs, independent artists, and those with irregular or seasonal artistic output.
The licensing fee for song lyrics, monologues, or similar works also went down from 500 to 100 pounds.
A long-standing dispute
According to Abdel Khaleq, this controversy dates back to a Jan. 2020 decree under former Minister Ines Abdeldayem, which had increased licensing fees across the board. That decision met immediate resistance, prompting a partial rollback three days later that was never officially enforced.
“However, these fees, whether reduced or original, have not been applied since then due to the lack of a ministerial decree to amend them, and the implementation of the decision remained suspended,” Abdel Khalek stated.
He confirmed that oversight bodies have recently questioned the ministry’s failure to collect fees under the previous decree, which sparked a renewed push to enforce the original high rates. This, in turn, led to another wave of protest from artists and independent producers, especially younger and lower-budget creators.
Following the renewed crisis, on June 3 the Minister of Culture Ahmed Hanno suspended the decision to increase fees for artistic works, in a “swift response to the demands of cinema and theater creators.”
Supporting young artists
Hanno also called for an urgent meeting with the relevant authorities to review and amend the decisions in a way that would not harm cinema and theater in Egypt. He emphasized the importance of balancing fee collection with supporting artistic creativity.
“It’s a step toward expanding film production,” Abdel Khaleq said, “especially for those to whom a few thousand pounds really matter.”
“These changes aim to support emerging artists and smaller productions,” echoed Abdel Rahim Kamal, head of the Central Administration for Censorship of Artistic Works. He told Al Manassa that the new fees will take effect Wednesday.
