Egypt's culture minister resigns after court ruling in copyright case

Egypt's Culture Minister Jehan Zaki resigned on Tuesday after the country's highest appellate court upheld a ruling against her in a copyright dispute.

Citing an Egyptian government statement, Al-Ahram newspaper reported that Zaki submitted her resignation "out of respect for the Egyptian judiciary and to spare the government any embarrassment” over what she called a personal legal matter.

According to the paper, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly accepted Zaki’s resignation and thanked her for her service.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by writer Soheir Abdel-Hamid, who accused Zaki of reproducing parts of her 2022 book in a later publication without permission.

Earlier Tuesday, Egypt's Court of Cassation upheld a verdict by a lower court ordering Zaki to pay 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,050) in compensation to Abdel-Hamid and withdraw her book from circulation.