A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the UAE’s Ministry of Economy and the Spanish professional football league ‘La Liga’ to establish a lab, focused on combating piracy and protecting intellectual property rights and creative works in the UAE. The initiative will focus on detecting and addressing the illegal use of audio and visual content across digital platforms. The project will be executed in collaboration with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Digital Government.
The lab will be set up in Dubai Media City to detect and block websites that violate intellectual property rights and creative work. Similar to the La Liga’s Anti-Piracy Lab in Madrid, project will be completed within 3 years.
The lab will use cutting-edge technological and digital tools to detect, analyse, and remove illegally used audio-visual content. Dubai’s collaborative efforts with relevant government bodies to formulate policies promoting creative industries and safeguarding intellectual property rights allows for a smooth collaboration with the Spanish football league.
The UAE has been fighting intellectual property violations, especially with the addition of laws like the ‘Federal Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights’. Through the ‘InstaBlock’ initiative, the Ministry of Economy blocked 1,117 websites that infringed upon the copyright of creative content on digital platforms during the holy month of Ramadan in 2024, as compared to 62 sites in Ramadan in 2023.
“We aim to establish frameworks for blocking websites that infringe upon intellectual property rights in the country, aligning with the best global practices.” Said Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy.
