Arabian Business, 8 March 2024: The UAE’s Economy Ministry has announced the launch of a new InstaBlock initiative to help improve the protection of intellectual property rights of creative works on digital platforms.

It will immediately ban and block websites that violate the rights of authors and creators. Websites that display their works across various platforms without obtaining permission for publication or broadcast will also be immediately banned and blocked.

A centre will also be designed and established together with relevant entities to monitor intellectual property right infringements and block non-compliant websites to protect right holders.

Through the initiative, the Ministry will provide a Live Ban service. This will enable complaints related to copyright infringement concerning live streaming online to be submitted.

A group consisting of the Ministry, the TDRA and representatives of rights holders will be established and will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure legislation protecting intellectual property rights regarding these complaints is swiftly implemented.

It has been launched to provide a safe environment from violations for owners of exclusive rights.

It has been launched in line with the best international practices in this area and has been launched together with the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA).

The new mechanism focuses on addressing any violations of intellectual property rights, regardless of whether they are literary works or multimedia content like videos.

It also aims to raise awareness about the need to respect intellectual property rights when various content display platforms are being used.

In addition, it aims to educate intellectual property rights holders about the Ministry’s tools and services to help them protect their intellectual property rights from infringement and piracy.

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