Mechanisms for Protecting Copyright Works

hooshdaran · Post by **hooshdaran** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:14 am

Hello.
I am an Iranian translator. I have translated a work published by an England publisher. In one of the clauses I am required to:

[..]take all necessary and appropriate steps required by or desirable under the laws of England to protect the, copyright in the Work from all infringement, piracy or other forms of reproduction, with the co-operation of the Proprietors

How do you get informed of a copyright infringement? And would you please describe these words to me?

PS:I am contracting with the English publisher myself, since Iranian laws just protect Iranian creators and not foreigners, and thus no company in my town is ready to enter such a contract.

Thanks in advance

AndyJ · Post by **AndyJ** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:11 pm

Hi rumi,
I assume that you are also acting as a publisher of your Iranian translation, since a translator would not normally be expected to enter into this sort of contract.
This is hard to answer because Iran is not a signatory to any of the major international treaties on copyright, and therefore there are no reciprocal enforcement arrangements to protect the copyright of English works published in Iran or for Iranian works which are published in the UK (or elsewhere for that matter).
I know absolutely nothing about the Iranian law on copyright as it affects the domestic market within Iran so I don't really think I can advise you on how to implement this contractual obligation. As a translator you may be recognised as a 'creator' under Iranian law because your work is a new creation; if so then hopefully domestic Iranian law should offer some protection for the copies you put on sale there, and I assume that this protection would be similar to that available under UK law, so to that extent this might just satisfy the UK publishers that you have taken the necessary steps to protect the Iranian edition of this work.
Normally copyright infringement only comes to light when a rights owner is notified about it or discovers it himself. You can use the normal search tools on the internet to look for people who appear to be offering unlicensed copies of your translation for sale, but this is very labour intensive and obviously only covers online sales. If unofficial (ie pirated) copies are being traded through bookshops it would be very hard to monitor this.
Given the lack of reciprocal protection arrangements between the UK and Iran for copyright protection, I don't see how the UK publisher intends to enforce this requirement.
Sorry I can't be of more help.

hooshdaran · Post by **hooshdaran** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:20 pm

AndyJ wrote:Hi rumi,
I assume that you are also acting as a publisher of your Iranian translation, since a translator would not normally be expected to enter into this sort of contract.
This is hard to answer because Iran is not a signatory to any of the major international treaties on copyright, and therefore there are no reciprocal enforcement arrangements to protect the copyright of English works published in Iran or for Iranian works which are published in the UK (or elsewhere for that matter).
I know absolutely nothing about the Iranian law on copyright as it affects the domestic market within Iran so I don't really think I can advise you on how to implement this contractual obligation. As a translator you may be recognised as a 'creator' under Iranian law because your work is a new creation; if so then hopefully domestic Iranian law should offer some protection for the copies you put on sale there, and I assume that this protection would be similar to that available under UK law, so to that extent this might just satisfy the UK publishers that you have taken the necessary steps to protect the Iranian edition of this work.
Normally copyright infringement only comes to light when a rights owner is notified about it or discovers it himself. You can use the normal search tools on the internet to look for people who appear to be offering unlicensed copies of your translation for sale, but this is very labour intensive and obviously only covers online sales. If unofficial (ie pirated) copies are being traded through bookshops it would be very hard to monitor this.
Given the lack of reciprocal protection arrangements between the UK and Iran for copyright protection, I don't see how the UK publisher intends to enforce this requirement.
Sorry I can't be of more help.

Andy,thanks,
I am not Rumi. Rumi was a great philosopher, poem, mystic, who wrote the poem in my signature.

The English publisher can't, I want to enter the contract. I don't want to offend them.

AndyJ · Post by **AndyJ** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:26 pm

Hi hooshdaran,

Sorry for confusing you with Rumi. However I'm sure you also a philosopher and poet in your own way.

I think the best way forward would be to ask a Iranian lawyer to outline exactly what protection the Iranian copyright law provides you if you are recognised in law as a creator, and then pass these details to the English publisher with an assurance that you will do your best to enforce those legal rights within Iran in the event that any infringement is reported to you. I don't see how you can be expected to do more than that.