Nima Abdullahzadeh games IP protection tips and tricks: Iranian VODs are not illegal in Iran: One of the most important points to be mentioned is that Iran is not a member of the ” Bern Convention ” [to protect literary and artistic works]. The Berne Convention obliges the member countries to protect the copyright of the works of the authors of other signatory countries as well as the works of their own authors. Nima Abdullahzadeh, a legal expert familiar with international issues, points out in a conversation with Digiato that because Iran is not a member of this convention, foreign works are not protected by copyright, and in principle, Iranian VOD platforms do not do anything illegal according to Iranian law. Discover more information at نیما عبدالله زاده.
“Probability” on the way to “reality”? The point is that the main owners of the content had not shown a serious reaction to the use of their content by Iranian platforms, but with the publication of Netflix’s Instagram post, it seems that a new chapter of the story has opened; Moreover, now Iranian VODs are no longer the small companies of the past 3 years and have become much bigger and of course more popular. In this case, how likely are the possibilities we talked about to become reality and practical actions? Nima Abdullahzadeh says in response to this question: The bottom line here is that DMCA cases cost very little to rights owners, unlike a copyright court case. As a result, the possibility that these same companies will resort to such ways is very high. In fact, the owners of the work can remove the application of a service from Google Play with a very low cost and very easily. “I am aware that foreign companies already have Iranian service providers on their radar, because the bigger the services become, the more likely they are to be prosecuted.”
Describing this issue as important, especially for foreign games, Nima Abdullahzadeh said: A work has copyright in Iran that has been published for the first time in Iran; A work published abroad and then released in Iran does not have copyright. This means that IP in Iran no longer has the above effect. Of course, this issue is not without a solution, and if the publishers publish their game in Iran at the same time, they will include copyright. As a result, Iranian publishers should be careful when entering the foreign market to offer their games simultaneously abroad and in Iran. According to the law, the works in Iran are included in the copyright law on the day of publication, the works must have been published for the first time in Iran.
The content is not subject to sanctions: It is not known what percentage of foreign content in Iranian VODs has copyright. It is necessary to mention that Iranian platforms (according to themselves) pay copyright for part of the foreign content that is not sold to them – and the percentage is not known. But here Nima Abdullahzadeh points out two important points: on the one hand, the US Department of Treasury has not placed the content under sanctions and American companies are not prohibited from selling content to Iran, although perhaps the internal policy of a company (such as Warner) is to Do not sell the content to the Iranian company. On the other hand, the Iranian side does not gain commercial points by purchasing the content.
Abdullahzadeh further pointed to the differences between the copyright law in Iran and the United States and said that in Iran, the law deals with the violator who knowingly violates IP in a criminal manner and with a prison sentence. The copyright law in Iran is defined 30 years after the death of the last author and creator, and this right can be inherited. American law says that if an American work is used, it must be registered in a special system in order to use copyright laws. In Iran, the producer does not need to register a copyright and the works receive this right from the time of publication.
Interaction or encounter? Although according to Iran’s law, what Iranian VODs do is not an illegal act, but the same issue can cause problems for our country’s platforms in the international dimension. The simplest steps are using DMCA and removing applications from Google Play and App Store, limiting social network accounts and even limiting the infrastructure tools of these platforms’ websites. In the next stage, there is a complaint, which involves a lot of money, but if it happens, it can even challenge the CEO and board members of Iranian VODs – on an international scale. What happened with Netflix’s initial move is the beginning of a new chapter; A season that either ends up in interaction or ends in small and big collisions and restrictions. It remains to be seen what will be the approach of Iranian VODs to this issue, but in any case, one thing is certain: big news is coming.
