Premium games intellectual property protection solutions with Nima Abdullahzadeh today: 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. Read extra information on نیما عبدالله زاده.
However, Nima Abdullahzadeh says there is also the possibility that the issue will go beyond the DMCA, or attempts to remove content from various platforms, and end up in court. In this case, the owner of the work sues the court for “Copyright Infringement”, which can create very serious challenges for people who are infringing copyright internationally. The first big challenge is that if the CEO or board members of these companies have dual citizenship, they are criminally and legally responsible in the second country, which is most likely a member of the Berne Convention. Abdullahzadeh says: In this case, the owners of the work can complain directly to each of these persons who have dual citizenship. Even the fact that the CEO and members of the board of directors do not have dual citizenship is still not an obstacle to file a complaint. They can file a lawsuit, but its outcome depends on various factors. But the most important point is that the vote is not enforceable in Iran. Finally, there may be restrictions for these people who cannot leave Iran . “Supposedly, the complaint can be made in Canada, and in this case, if the person enters Canada, he will be arrested and must pay the fine.
The legal advisor of the foundation went on to discuss the issue of copyright and said that according to Iran’s law of 1348, which in fact made copyright legal in Iran, when someone publishes an artistic work in Iran, it is included in the copyright law. This means that when a game is developed, when the game or artwork is published, this work will be copyrighted. Abdullahzadeh pointed out that by receiving this right, two types of rights, one economic (material) and the other spiritual, are given to the owner of the work: Economic rights are considered as money and in fact you can earn money from it. Intellectual rights, however, are of a different kind. This means that when someone creates a work, even if the work is sold and fully transferred, the person who buys it must mention the original owner of the work. Copyright belongs to the creator and the publisher must credit the creator, even if the work is purchased outright. In case of failure of this law, the right of complaint is reserved for the manufacturer.
The legal expert, Nima Abdullahzadeh, says that such an action is highly unlikely because taking a case of copyright infringement to court costs between 300,000 and 500,000 dollars in the United States: “Foreign companies until they are sure that the money they spend will be returned or they will be hit.” They don’t do this if they enter the other side. Because the cost of copyright infringement complaints is a significant cost even for large companies. This is while the DMCA has a very limited cost and removes copyright infringing companies from platforms. According to the recent events, the owners of foreign works are certainly now considering their options, and it is not unlikely that the application of these services will be removed from Google Play as the first option.
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.
Nima Abdullahzadeh, a business development consultant, explained the copyright laws in Iran and the world in a conference entitled “Protection of intellectual property rights of computer games”. One of the topics that is not given much attention in Iran is the issue of copyright or property rights, which becomes more and more important with the increasing development of interactive entertainment. Especially, the holding of B2B events has made the importance of copyright and the laws surrounding it to be seen more and more in Iran, and especially at the time of signing important contracts, we see problems in not respecting copyright in games. Of course, incomplete information about this important issue may be the reason why many game makers do not have accurate information about copyright laws and for this reason they make irreparable mistakes in the supply of their products in Iran and the world.