Iran Allows the creation of Institutions to Manage the Protection of Literary and Artistic Copyright.

Nouraei & M. Mostafavi Law Offices – 28 February 2024- Tehran- To regulate and safeguard the literary and artistic rights in intellectual property, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) has passed decree No. 1402/24362 dated 01/12/1402 (20 February 2024) called ”single article for establishing institutions for collective management of literary and artistic property rights”.

The Council is a legislative body for the country’s cultural, educational, and research activities. Its decrees are considered law and binding.

As for the background of protection of intellectual property, the Iranian parliament approved in 1970 the “Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artists Rights,” supplemented with the “Law for the Protection of Rights of the Authors of Computer Programs,” passed in 2000. 

In 2010, article 12 of the “Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artists Rights” was amended, and the copyright length was increased to 50 years after the author’s death. 

The laws above do not cover works outside Iran as the country is not a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works or the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

 

The full text of SCCR’s legislation is as follows:

 

The single article for establishing institutions for collective management of literary and artistic property rights.

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance

The National Deeds and Properties Registration Organisation 

Based on the resolution of the 453rd meeting dated 05/10/1402( 26 December 2023) of the supervisory board for the Council of the Cultural Revolution, which was approved in the 895th meeting dated 10/11/1402 (30 January 2023) of the Council of the Cultural Revolution, the above single article was approved, and now it is notified for enforcement as follows:

Single Article- In line with the implementation of national action (16) of the macro strategy (9) of the country’s cultural engineering plan for “strengthening the economy of art and creating a system of intellectual, credit and 

financial support for local and national art industries based on Islamic principles as well as regarding the “Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artists Rights” (1970), and to facilitate the exploitation of literary and artistic works and related rights protected by the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the authority to issue licenses for the establishment, dissolution and supervision over the collective management institutions of literary and artistic property rights and related rights is assigned to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Note 1- The Institute for Collective Management of Literary and Artistic Property Rights is a juridical entity that, according to the prevailing law and its articles of association, is authorized to administer the copyright or related rights, especially determining the conditions and granting permission for exploitation, setting and receiving copyright royalty sums and distributing the collected amounts among the holders of rights, and, as the case may be, filing lawsuits on behalf of more than one holder of rights as its sole purpose or primary purpose for meeting the collective interests of the holders of rights. The holder of rights is any person who owns a copyright or related rights by law or contract.

Note 2: The Institute for Collective Management of Literary and Artistic Property Rights is a non-governmental body that, provided that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance approves its articles of association in principle, shall be registered officially according to the applicable regulations of The National Deeds and Properties Registration Organisation. 

Note 3 – All the rules related to the realization and implementation of this single article, including how to be established, its activity, qualification of the founders and members, the organs of the institution, the scope of responsibilities and powers, the rules related to the collection, receiving and distribution of income among the holders of rights, the monitoring mechanism, inspection, the transparency of performance reporting and the accounts, the type of violations, the manner of handling violations and the range of punishments and resolving the disputes between members, winding up the institution and the number of institutions, will be prepared and ratified by the Supreme Council of The Cultural Revolution no later than six months at the latest following the approval of this single article by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in cooperation with the Judiciary Power, the Ministry of Justice , and Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, and other relevant organs.

Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi

President and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution

 

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