Abu Dhabi Book Fair shuts down two publishing houses for violating intellectual property rights and participation conditions

on May 27, 2022

The statement was made on the second day of the cultural festival, Tuesday.

According to Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Acting Executive Director of the ALC and Director of ADIBF, the Fair strongly opposes infringement of UAE publishing rules and intellectual property rights. He emphasised the need of following all legislation in order to preserve the rights of both authors and publishers.

"For more than three decades, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair has established itself as an incubator for creativity and innovation, cultivating a global reputation as a platform that attracts thousands of Arab and international publishers to support and advance the region's publishing industry," says Al Tunaiji.

"By holding a committee to oversee publication infractions, the Arabic Language Centre continues to enforce the rules of the United Arab Emirates."

This committee, then, is undoubtedly the one that has discovered some form of violation of copyright and/or procedural restrictions in relation to participating in the present book fair.

According to Al Tunaiji, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is dedicated to developing a culture of enlightenment that eliminates any counterfeiting or violation of intellectual property.

It's also unclear what "shut down" implies in this context. Are the two companies accused of rights infringement and/or "participation requirements" merely excluded from participating in the book fair or from operating at all?