On Wednesday, Minister of Information in the caretaker government, Ziad Makkari, sent a letter regarding "Lebanon Television" to media outlets and television stations, requesting their "commitment to the Intellectual Property Protection Law concerning the archive of Lebanon Television." The letter stated: "Lebanon Television, as the exclusive owner of the 'Lebanon Television Archive' which includes works of artistic, intellectual, and advertising production of rare and unique moral value, is based on the principle of rights protection, specifically the legal protection of intellectual and artistic property provided and overseen by Law No. 75/99. This law specifies the works covered by protection, their conditions, scope of application, and the rights enjoyed by the owners of this property, as well as the neighboring rights enjoyed by performing artists, producers of recordings, and broadcasting stations and companies, along with the duration of this protection, precautionary measures, compensation for harm, and penalties.
Since we, as the rights holder, are keen and believe in the necessity and obligation to preserve these rights, specifically the rights to the Lebanon Television archive, described as the archive of the 'beautiful era', which contains works by creative artists and preserves the memory of generations and the nation during a period of prosperity and success, we will take all necessary and precautionary measures available to us under Law No. 75/99 to protect the rich legacy of Lebanon Television and to prevent any infringement or piracy of these rights by individuals, television stations, or electronic media sites.
Therefore, we are sending this letter to request your complete and absolute commitment to the texts of the Intellectual Property Protection Law No. 75/99, and to refrain from using, broadcasting, publishing, or displaying any of the production works belonging to and specific to the Lebanon Television archive without obtaining our written approval and following the legally required procedures and fulfilling obligations, under the penalty of us taking all legal measures available under Law 75/99 to prevent any infringement on the rights of the author or neighboring rights, in addition to legally mandated compensations and fines, retaining all our rights against any party. We hope for a respectful response."
