Commons:Copyright rules by territory/Iran

Copyright rules: Iran Shortcut: COM:IRAN
Durations
Standard	Life 50 years
Photograph	Publish 30 years
Audiovisual	Publish 30 years
Other
Freedom of panorama	No
Common licence tags	{{PD-Iran}}
ISO 3166-1 alpha-3	IRN
Treaties
WTO member	none
URAA restoration date‌*	none
*‌A work is usually protected in the US if it is a type of work copyrightable in the US, published after 31 December 1928 and protected in the country of origin on the URAA date.

This page provides an overview of copyright rules of Iran relevant to uploading works into Wikimedia Commons. Note that any work originating in Iran must be in the public domain, or available under a free license, in both Iran and the United States before it can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. If there is any doubt about the copyright status of a work from Iran, refer to the relevant laws for clarification.

Governing laws

As of 2018 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations, listed the 1970 Act for Protection of Authors, Composers and Artists Rights (Copyright Law) as the main IP law enacted by the legislature of Iran. The Islamic Parliament Research Center Of The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the Farsi text of this law. WIPO holds an English translation of the text of this law in their WIPO Lex database.

General rules

According to the 1970 Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artist Rights,

• Copyrightable works, such as literary, musical works, paintings, designs and decorative writings, architectural works and buildings, carpet and rug designs, sculptures and photographs are in public domain in the following cases:
  • The creator(s) died more than 50 years ago. (Reformation of article 12 - 22 August 2010)
  • The creator(s) died before 22 August 1980, for works that their copyright expired before 22 August 2010 according to the 1970 law.
    • In the case of works of joint authorship, the date of the death of the last surviving author shall be considered alone for the calculation of the time of protection.
• "Article 16. In the following cases, the author's financial rights will be valid for a period of 30 years from the date of publication or public presentation:

1. Photographic or cinematographic works.

2. In cases where the work belongs to a person of legal position."

"Financial rights" apparently includes the right to publish and the right to receive royalties.

Per U.S. Circ. 38a, the following countries are not participants in the Berne Convention or Universal Copyright Convention and there is no presidential proclamation restoring U.S. copyright protection to works of these countries on the basis of reciprocal treatment of the works of U.S. nationals or domiciliaries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Marshall Islands, Palau, Somalia, Somaliland, and South Sudan. As such, works published by citizens of these countries in these countries are usually not subject to copyright protection outside of these countries. Hence, such works may be in the public domain in most other countries worldwide. However: Works published in these countries by citizens or permanent residents of other countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention or any other treaty on copyright will still be protected in their home country and internationally as well as locally by local copyright law (if it exists). Similarly, works published outside of these countries within 30 days of publication within these countries will also usually be subject to protection in the foreign country of publication. When works are subject to copyright outside of these countries, the term of such copyright protection may exceed the term of copyright inside them. Unpublished works from these countries may be fully copyrighted. A work from one of these countries may become copyrighted in the United States under the URAA if the work's home country enters a copyright treaty or agreement with the United States and the work is still under copyright in its home country. Iran has enacted a copyright law which came into force on 12 January 1970 and communicated the official English translation to UNESCO on 20 April 1970.

Bilateral Agreements

Although Iran is not party to the conventions mentioned it should be noted that bilateral agreements may restrict usage. E.g. the German-Iranian ”Abkommen zwischen dem Deutschen Reich und dem Kaiserreich Persien über den Schutz von Erfindungspatenten, Fabrik- oder Handelsmarken, von Handelsnamen und Mustern sowie von Werken der Kunst und Literatur” of 1930 remains in force. Therein „Die Hohen Vertragschließenden Teile verpflichten sich, um die vorbezeichneten Rechte zu schützen, geeignete Maßnahmen gegen jede Verletzung dieser Rechte zu treffen.“ loosely translated into English: “The Contracting Parties agree to protect aforementioned rights and to take appropriate measures against transgressions.” Amongst these rights are those concerning art and literature („künstlerischen und literarischen Eigentums“). Thus in Germany the German level of protection needs to be applied.

Copyright tags

Shortcut

• COM:TAG Iran

See also: Commons:Copyright tags

• {{PD-Iran}} – copyright of photographs and movies lasts 30 years from the date of publication or presentation.

Currency

Shortcut

• COM:CUR Iran

See also: Commons:Currency

•  Not OK For coins and banknotes designed after 21 March 1993 (current year minus 31 years)

According to the 1970 Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artist Rights, Iran banknotes and coins designed after 21 March 1993 are copyrighted and their copyright belong to Central Bank of Iran.

• OK For coins and banknotes designed before 22 March 1994 (current year minus 30 years)

According to the 1970 Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artist Rights, Iran banknotes and coins designed before 22 March 1994 become public domain after 30 years since, "In the following cases images fall into public domain after 30 years from the date of publication or public presentation (Article 16): In cases where the work belongs to a legal personality or rights are transferred to a legal personality." Iran banknotes and coins are copyrighted and their copyright belong to Central Bank of Iran which is a "legal personality".

Please use {{Iranian currency}} for banknotes/coinage designed before 22 March 1994.

Freedom of panorama

Shortcut

• COM:FOP Iran

See also: Commons:Freedom of panorama

 Not OK There is no usable FoP provision in the copyright law of Iran. {{NoFoP-Iran}}

According to article 2 of copyright law of Iran (passed on January 1, 1970) architectural works, designs, sketches and buildings and sculptures of all types are protected by copyright law.

According to article 12 of copyright law of Iran, such works remain on protection for a period of 50 years (Reformation of article 12 - 22 August 2010) after the death of its author(s). Also according to article 13, copyright of the works which produced on order by an employer belongs to the employer for a period of thirty years from the date of production. In cases where the work belongs to a legal personality or rights are transferred to a legal personality, it will go into the public domain after 30 years from the date of publication or public presentation (Article 16).

Stamps

See also: Commons:Stamps

: All stamps published before 22 March 1994 are in the public domain because according to the Law for the Protection of Authors, Composers and Artist Rights, Iran stamps designed before 22 March 1994 become public domain after 30 years since, "In the following cases images fall into public domain after 30 years from the date of publication or public presentation (Article 16): In cases where the work belongs to a legal personality or rights are transferred to a legal personality." Iranian stamps are copyrighted and their copyright belong to Iran Post which is a "legal personality". In those cases use {{PD-Iran}}.

Threshold of originality

Shortcut

• COM:TOO Iran

See also: Commons:Threshold of originality

 Not OK for most logos. The level of originality required for copyright protection in Iran seems very low.

The following are registrable for copyright protection: "(...) pictures, drawings, designs, decorative writings, (...) or any decorative and imaginative work produced in any simple or complex manner "

See also

• Category:License tags of Iran
• Category:Iranian FOP cases
• Category:Stamps of Iran
• Intellectual property in Iran
• Iranian calendar

Citations

Caution: The above description may be inaccurate, incomplete and/or out of date, so must be treated with caution. Before you upload a file to Wikimedia Commons you should ensure it may be used freely. See also: Commons:General disclaimer