Nima Abdullahzadeh games IP protection tips and tricks: The blocking of movie download sites , the anger of the users of these sites , filing a complaint with Netflix, and finally Netflix’s unexpected and controversial response to the Iranian platform “Namava” was a chain of events that confronts Iranian platforms and their users with a serious question: if the real owners of the content And if the copyright holders want to react to what is happening in Iran, what options do they have in front of them? In this article, in a conversation with Nima Abdullahzadeh, legal expert familiar with international copyright cases, we answer this important question. Read more details at نیما عبدالله زاده.
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.
Nima Abdullahzadeh says: “Purchasing content from domestic companies is not logical. For example, as an Iranian company, you obtain an exclusive license to display content. But since Iranian law basically does not support that content, you cannot prohibit your competitor’s service provider who has not paid for the content from displaying the same content. As a result, from a commercial point of view, buying content weakens the Iranian company. Because the competitor can display it without paying.”
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.
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.