Premium games IP protection solutions from 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. Read extra info at 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.

After presenting the headlines of the conference, Nima Abdullahzadeh explained the importance of intellectual property at the beginning of the speech and by explaining that intellectual property basically refers to anything that is created with thought, she said that basically a game is considered a constructive intellectual property that consists of components. There are different types and each game is an Intellectual Property (IP). Abdullahzadeh further added that by making games, game makers have in fact created IP, and if there were no copyright and intellectual property, there would be no game industry.

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.

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.

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.