Aims to establish a legal environment to boost the publishing sector in the UAE

Event announced on the side-lines of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival

Sharjah, April 24, 2017

The ‘1001 Titles’ initiative has launched a consultancy service for publishers on the side-lines of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2017). The new service from the Sharjah-based initiative that aims to publish 1001 Arabic book titles will provide UAE-based Emirati and Arab publishing houses with consultancy and support, as well as establish a legal environment to boost the publishing sector in the UAE.

Launched in collaboration with DEAIFIS Advocates & Legal Consultants (DEAIFIS), the new service will deliver a package of premium consultancy services, most notably drafting and reviewing contracts between authors and publishers, providing legal consultancy on copyrights and reaching settlements and conflict resolutions on intellectual property rights.

The highlight of the launch ceremony was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between 1001 Titles and DEAIFIS, which organises the relations between the two entities and sets terms for publishers who would like to profit from the initiative’s services. Under the MoU, DEAIFIS will provide legal consultancy to all publishers for a nominal fee and with certain discounts.  

The MoU was signed at the 1001 Titles initiative’s pavilion at SCRF 2017 by Majd Al Shehhi, Manager of 1001 Titles and Tariq Rasheed, Managing Associate of DEAIFIS. It was signed in the presence of Rashid Al Kous, General Manager of Knowledge without Borders (KwB) - the organisation behind the 1001 Titles initiative - and Mohammed Rashad, President of the Arab Publishers’ Association, as well as a host of representatives from UAE-based publishing houses.

“We are committed to increasing the quality and number of Emirati publications and enriching the local cultural portfolio and this requires legal support in order to protect the rights of authors, publishers and translators. This is why we have placed compliance with local and international laws and with instruments that organise the publishing industry at the top of the eligibility criteria for participating in the 1001 Titles initiative. The criteria state that the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) should be assigned to all published books, which should also be approved by the National Media Centre,” said Rashid Al Kous, General Manager of KwB.

“The 1001 Titles initiative is an important instrument in the on-going efforts to boost the publishing sector in the UAE. Through launching the legal consultancy service, the initiative has moved from a phase of providing publishing houses with printing and publishing copyrights to one of providing them with legal support,” said Majd Al Shehhi, Manager of 1001 Titles.

Al Shehhi emphasised that the service will provide publishers with all means of legal support, which will help them publish and distribute their titles in accordance with the international criteria that organises the publishing sphere globally. It aims to ensure the protection of authors’ as well as publishers’ copyrights and intellectual property rights, which are protected by local and international instruments and legislation.

The Manager of 1001 Titles noted that all rights should be respected, including intellectual property rights, reproduction, printing and distribution rights, as well as publishing and translation copyrights. She pointed out that the initiative seeks to ensure the protection of all these rights through the new consultancy service.

Lunched in February 2016 by KwB, 1001 Titles intends to publish 1,001 Emirati books by the end of 2017, with the aim of enriching the cultural and intellectual sphere in the UAE and ensuring the building of a sustainable publishing industry inside and outside the country. The initiative also aims to support Emirati authors and publishing houses to enable them to compete in the global publishing sector.