High quality games IP protection solutions by Nima Abdullahzadeh right now: Although the work of VODs is not illegal inside Iran, in any case, the important point here is that Iranian sites and platforms are using tools or spaces that were developed outside the borders of Iran and in countries that are members of the Berne Convention. In response to the question of what possible international risks the use of copyrighted content creates for that platform, Abdullah Zadeh says: The fastest danger that threatens them is the removal of their applications in foreign stores such as Google Play or Apple’s App Store. On the other hand, Iranian platforms use other tools and services that originate from countries that are members of the Berne Convention. Basically, most of the used platforms are American. According to the DMCA ( Digital Millennium Copyright Act), these platforms are required to remove the content when their platform is abused and the copyright owner informs them, otherwise they are also responsible. See extra info on https://digiato.com/article/2019/10/07/%D9%86%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%84%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%B3-%DA%A9%D9%BE%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA.
Nima Abdullahzadeh says in response: In this case, the work of the content owners becomes difficult, because first they have to see the content and collect documents. As long as they do not have someone in Iran, they cannot do such a thing. But it should be noted that foreign platforms cooperate with many law firms and it is not difficult to find an Iranian lawyer in these law firms to receive advice and find relationships in Iran to collect documents. This is the reason why many such platforms serve only with Iran’s IP and have made it impossible to access the content from outside. But can this issue be an obstacle to the possible events described?
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.
Regarding the content not being subject to sanctions, he also says that Iranian platforms do not have restrictions on purchasing content because OFAC (The Office of Foreign Assets Control) has issued a general license that says the content is not subject to sanctions Nima Abdullahzadeh says : Actually, the content, audio, video, text or a combination of these are not sanctioned. As a result, American companies are not legally prohibited from buying and selling content with Iran. However, it may be the policy of an American company not to sell its content to the Iranian platform, but in any case, Iranians can voluntarily obtain broadcast permission through content aggregators in different regions. But the fact is that buying this license does not give any advantage to the Iranian company.
The computer game intellectual property rights protection conference in TGC 2017 also included topics on how to transfer IP, including Assigning and Licensing sections, as well as the possibility of transferring the game in a limited way and determining the countries in which your product can be sold. In the end, Abdullahzadeh said in response to a question regarding the duty to follow up on the violation of the copyright law that this duty in Iran is assigned to the right holder and Iranian developers must sign a non-disclosure agreement with publishers and all people in general. In other countries, this law is known as Non-disclosure agreement or NDA, and unfortunately, according to Nima Abdullahzadeh, it is not paid attention to in Iran. The TGC 2017 exhibition started on Thursday with the presence of 40 foreign speakers and 20 Iranian speakers and will end today, Friday.
Nima Abdullahzadeh: The industry is formed with income, and if there is no intellectual property, they are practically not a game industry either. At the beginning, I personally expected that this speech would be well received, considering the importance of the copyright issue in Iran and the world and the connection of this issue with the publishing of games in the world markets, but the reception cannot be considered acceptable.