Protecting the Publication of foreign Works in Iran

The law of Intellectual property rights providessome legal protectionsin Iran legal system which is able to support foreign publishers to publish their books in Iran under these legal safeguards.Despite the National Copyright Law, adopted for almost 50 years in Iran and a population of 80 million, also the largest book market in the Middle East, the misunderstanding or lack of knowledge about the legal protection provided by the national Copyright Law has led to a sharp decline in business relations in the field of book publishing.

The Copyright Protection Office (CPO) has launched its specialized legal services in the field of copyright to national and foreign authors, translators, and publishers.It is worth noting the legal protection of foreign books in Iranis viableunder certain legal conditions and it is not be different from the legalprotection provided for the works published in Iran.

The Copyright Protection Office (CPO) acts as a private legal service provider affiliated with Majd Scientific and Cultural Assembly, a.k.a. Majd Publishing. The Majd Publishing as a private publishing house is managed under the direction of its founder, ِDr. Seyed Abbas Hosseini Nik with more than 30 years of experience, also the Best Publisher of Year in 2014 and 2015 and 2018 in Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dr. Hosseini Nik holds a PhD in Law, a university professor and author of four books in the field of copyright in Iran, in addition to managing Majd Publishing, acts as the president of the Association of Academic Publishers in Iran.

Suggested Solution:

The Copyright Protection Office (CPO) as a specialized legal officeacts as the legal representative of any foreign publisher that wishes to be protected under the legal protection of copyright in Iran by an official contract concluded between concerned parties. CPO undertakes to perform following acts:

• Providing legal consultation to foreign or domestic publishers on the legal requirements to support the exclusive rights related to  the original work and the process of their translation in Iran
• Providing legal assistance in the process of drafting, negotiation and concluding book publishing contracts between foreign publishers and domestic publishers in conformity with Iran national laws
• Examining records and credentials of any domestic publishers for assuring their capacities to fulfill the obligations agreed upon toward any foreign publishers
• Performingthe complete process of checking the quality of translation and publication of a booksubject to a publishing contract
• Controlling the performance of concerned domestic publisher's commitments to legal duties based on the publishing legal and contractual criteria
• Supervising the process of circulation and distribution of any books in Iran
• Following up the legal process for financial claims and obligations of both the domestic and foreign publishers
• Providing guild solutions to protectany books of a foreign publisher which is not legally protectablein Iran

The Copyright Protection Office (CPO) chargesfor services that generate revenue for foreignpublisher which is equivalent of 10% of revenue from foreign publisher and 10% from Iranian publisher. Otherwise, there are no fees.