Nima Abdullahzadeh games IP protection tips and tricks: 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.” See additional info on 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?
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 legal expert, Nima Abdullahzadeh, says that such an action is highly unlikely because taking a case of copyright infringement to court costs between 300,000 and 500,000 dollars in the United States: “Foreign companies until they are sure that the money they spend will be returned or they will be hit.” They don’t do this if they enter the other side. Because the cost of copyright infringement complaints is a significant cost even for large companies. This is while the DMCA has a very limited cost and removes copyright infringing companies from platforms. According to the recent events, the owners of foreign works are certainly now considering their options, and it is not unlikely that the application of these services will be removed from Google Play as the first option.
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.