Intellectual Property Provisions in Iraqi and Iranian Law: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Humans are distinguished from other creatures by their intellect and reasoning abilities. Through their human intellect, they have been able to develop and refine their ideas, from the discovery of fire by primitive humans to the present day, the age of science and technology. Since an idea is the fruit of a person's intellectual effort, it is essential to protect that idea and attribute it solely to that individual. Justice dictates that authors have rights to their intellectual and mental labor, and also the right to protect these rights and hold accountable those who infringe upon them. Therefore, the urgent need arose to provide protection for innovative scientific, literary, or artistic production under the umbrella of copyright. Consequently, protecting these creators and inventors necessitated the establishment of a special legislative system that provides them with adequate protection. This is because intellectual production has become globally disseminated and is no longer confined to the borders of any particular country. The work or book is printed in one country and exported to another, and songs and tapes are produced in one country and distributed in another. The same applies to television programs, computer programs, and the Internet. All this technological and informational progress has made humanity a partner in intellectual production. In addition, the reason for the rise of civilizations lies with the creators and thinkers. Therefore, France is one of the first countries that has taken an interest in providing legal protection for the rights of the author. The most important of these were the six decrees issued by King Louis XVI in 1777 AD, which recognized that these decrees were the author’s literary property rights. Following the French Revolution, legislators recognized the importance of recognizing authors' rights, leading to the issuance of the first decree specifically addressing copyright in 1791. Subsequently, several international agreements were concluded, and domestic legislation was enacted. Internationally, numerous multilateral agreements were established in the field of literary and intellectual property, including the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886. The primary objective of this convention was to protect authors' rights to their literary and artistic works. Similarly, the Agreement on Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) entered into force in 1995 and was ratified by most countries in 1999. To date, 135 countries have ratified TRIPS, including nine Arab states. Therefore, the protection of literary and artistic works is a duty not only for individual states but for all nations worldwide. Domestically, Arab legislation has given considerable attention to protecting copyright. For example, in Iraq, the Ottoman Copyright Law addressed copyright until the enactment of a specific law. To protect copyright, Law No. 11 of 1991, the Copyright Protection Law, was issued, repealing the Ottoman Copyright Law. It was later amended by Amendment Law No. 41 of 1998. The Iraqi legislature also issued a special Copyright Protection Law No. 3 of 1971, which repealed the Ottoman Copyright Law.