Everybody loves a good pyramid, whether it's at the Luxor casino in Vegas or in the courtyard of the Louvre in Paris. There's one on the back of the dollar bill and the rapper Jay-Z makes the symbol with his hand at concerts. (What does that mean, anyway? Empire? Diamonds? A secret Masonic order?)

In any case, Egypt is fed up with the ubiquitous imitations of its most famous landmark. Wire services are reporting that the Egyptian government might copyright the pyramids and many of its other legendary antiquities, such as scarab beetles and pharaonic statuary. Paul Schemm of the AP wrote that it was "an attempt to get paid from the sale of replicas," and was partly inspired by complaints in the Egyptian media about the lucrative pyramid-shaped Luxor casino in Las Vegas.

My colleague and fellow Egyptian-American Nancy Youssef, sent me this link from the Guardian's story about the proposal. (Thanks for the topic suggestion!)

For now, it seems the proposal would only cover exact replicas, down to scale, so you should be safe from copyright infringement unless you build a same-scale model of an Egyptian relic. Obviously, getting foreign jurisdictions to enforce such a ban is another major obstacle for the Egyptian authorities. The proposal doesn't even get into that.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the copyright proposal appears to have been the brainchild of Zahi Hawass, Egypt's zany, over-the-top antiquities chief. You might recall him as that melodramatic guy in the Indiana Jones hat on National Geographic specials about Ancient Egypt. Dr. Hawass is a diehard publicity hound, albeit one who's managed to get new generations excited about Egyptology and has helped drive tourism to ancient sites here. Hey, before you snicker at Egypt's diva-in-residence, ask yourself: do you have your own fan club?