Top games IP protection solutions by Nima Abdullahzadeh 2023: The use of a tool called DMCA, which happens to cost very little to the owners of the work, is not limited to application hosting platforms like Google Play. In this case, the owner of the work can also target the content of social networks such as Twitter and Instagram of Iranian companies. There is even a possibility that these accounts will be closed. However, Nima Abdullahzadeh says that the most effective use of the DMCA will be related to the Google search engine: “Right holders can remove the link to the infringing content from Google search. Suppose an Iranian VOD platform searches for a word like “Avengers” on the first page of Google. The owner of the work can request Google to remove the links. It’s not just a matter of removing links, but SEO and the ranking of that site in Google will fall.” Discover additional details 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.
Describing this issue as important, especially for foreign games, Nima Abdullahzadeh said: A work has copyright in Iran that has been published for the first time in Iran; A work published abroad and then released in Iran does not have copyright. This means that IP in Iran no longer has the above effect. Of course, this issue is not without a solution, and if the publishers publish their game in Iran at the same time, they will include copyright. As a result, Iranian publishers should be careful when entering the foreign market to offer their games simultaneously abroad and in Iran. According to the law, the works in Iran are included in the copyright law on the day of publication, the works must have been published for the first time in Iran.
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.