The Material Rights Belonging to the Authors of Computer Programs, Literary and Artistic Works with an Emphasis on the Iranian Laws: A Comparison
Seyed Mohsen Hashemi Nasab Zavareh · Humanities and Social Sciences · 2022
In Iran, there are two statutes with regard to the protection of literary and artistic works, namely the Act on Protection of Authors and Composers 1969 and the Act on Translating and Reproducing Publications and Audio Works 1973 (from here on respectively, APAC and ATRP). In addition, computer programs are protected by the Act on the Protection of Computer Program Authors (APCP) ratified in 2000. These statutes, when closely examined, reveal the differences of the authors' material rights in terms of duration and methods of protection, although there are similarities between literary and artistic works and computer programs. This issue has affected the exceptions stipulated in material rights where these differences are observed in a larger scale. In this regard, computer programs, unlike literary and artistic works, cannot be used for educational purposes while modifications, arrangements, making backups, etc. are permitted. These differences, however, are natural and necessary when taking into account the essential differences of these genres—i.e., the commercial aspect of computer programs which outweighs its literary and artistic aspects as opposed to works of art and literature. Therefore, it seems that according to the laws of Iran regarding the Material rights belonging to the authors of computer programs an exclusive system which is not only based on literary and artistic works has been accepted.