Nima Abdullahzadeh games intellectual property protection guides: 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 more 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 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.
An important issue mentioned by the foundation’s legal advisor is the presence of Iran among 29 countries that do not participate in any international copyright convention. From this example, we can refer to the Berne Convention, according to which, if a work is published in one country, it will receive copyright in all member countries of the convention. Of course, the existence of a loophole in this convention has made non-members able to use this law. If the game makers release their game in a member and non-member country at the same time and with a maximum interval of 30 days, the copyright is included in their work. The Internet can be considered as the main key to this solution, and if the game is published in a form that is also offered abroad, the game will receive intellectual property.
One of the lectures that was very important at the TGC 2017 exhibition was the lecture by Nima Abdullahzadeh, a business development consultant, which was titled “Protection of intellectual property rights of computer games: an overview of copyright laws in Iran and the world”. Nima Abdullah Zadeh is currently working as a legal advisor of the National Computer Games Foundation. He advises Iranian developers and publishers of computer games in the field of intellectual property, tax planning and international regulations. Nima Abdullahzadeh has also been advising start-up businesses for many years to be able to be present in global markets despite international restrictions.