Khaberni - Investigations into case number 23 of the year 2025 of October 6 economic misdemeanors have revealed new details concerning the accusation of journalist Maha El-Sagheer for violating intellectual property rights after displaying world-famous artworks during a television program and mistakenly attributing them to herself.
According to media reports, the official documents clarified that Maha El-Sagheer denied the accusations in front of the prosecution, asserting that she handed over a USB drive containing her own works to the production team of "Ma’akom Mona El-Shazly," but some of the displayed paintings were unintentionally downloaded from the Internet and later presented in the episode as her own productions.
Maha El-Sagheer stated that she did not intend to display these paintings or claim them as her own, mentioning that the mistake occurred during the preparation of the visual materials for the episode.
An Egyptian Intellectual Property Protection Agency report confirmed that the six controversial paintings belong to four contemporary European artists: Danish artist Liza Lach Nielsen, Italian artist Pier Tovoliti, German artist Caroline Wendelin, and French artist City.
Based on the report, the Public Prosecution referred the journalist to the Economic Court of Cairo, after the investigation confirmed the display of protected artworks without prior permission from the owners, and the court scheduled the first session of the case on November 22nd.
Previously, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation issued a decision in July to ban Maha El-Sagheer from media appearances for six months, following complaints from foreign artists regarding the attribution of their works to her in one of the program's episodes. The Council referred the incident to the Public Prosecution, which conducted the investigation into the violation.
