Egypt to 'Copyright' Sphinx™

Egypt is set to pass a law that would "copyright" the pyramids and the Sphinx, the BBC reports. The law would apply to large-scale replicas anywhere in the world of any ancient Egyptian monument or museum piece.  Egypt intends to collect royalties from the duplicates to protect its ancient sites. The law would not apply to artistic drawings. Copies of Egyptian monuments are popular in resorts across the world.

An Egyptian newspaper article recently called for Las Vegas' Luxor hotel to fork over a slice of its profits to the real city of Luxor, which sees a fraction of the visitors.  Egyptian officials said the law would not apply to the hotel because it's not an exact replica of a monument. But the hotel's boast that it's "the only pyramid-shaped building in the world" would have to stop, they insisted. (More Egypt stories.)