Identification and Analysis of Intellectual Property Challenges in Iran's Digital Creative Industries

Objective
This study aims to identify and analyze the principal challenges related to intellectual property (IP) within Iran’s digital creative industries and to propose targeted strategies to strengthen the IP regime so it better supports innovation, cultural production, and economic development. Recognizing that extant IP laws in Iran were largely crafted prior to the digital era, and given the rapid expansion of digital creative sectors — including digital publishing, video, gaming, animation, and other content-driven industries — the research seeks to answer: What are the core obstacles undermining the effectiveness of IP protection in Iran’s digital creative industries, and which policy, technological, and institutional interventions can mitigate these obstacles?
Research Methodology
The research employs a qualitative design grounded in classical grounded-theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin), using a three-stage coding process (open, axial, and selective coding). Data were collected through a combination of documentary review and semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Sixteen purposefully selected experts — including senior and operational managers active in digital creative and knowledge-based industries, and academic researchers with relevant advisory experience — participated in interviews that lasted between 35 and 50 minutes. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using MAXQDA 12. The analytical process generated an initial pool of 252 concepts, which after iterative consolidation yielded 59 saturated codes and 27 higher-level concepts. Rigor was addressed through triangulation with documentary sources, peer review by two experienced academic coders (inter-coder agreement of 86%), and consultative validation with domain experts to enhance credibility, dependability, and confirmability.
Findings
Analysis produced a paradigmatic model that frames “systemic inefficiency and overarching challenges in the IP regime for digital creative industries” as the core phenomenon. The model organizes determinants into five interrelated categories:

Causal Conditions: Ambiguities in legal definitions (notably regarding products created by artificial intelligence and hybrid works), lack of statutory clarity for new technology outputs, prevalence of joint ownership scenarios, cultural resistance to new legal and technological frameworks, and pervasive gaps in awareness and education among creators and users.
Contextual Conditions: Technological advancements (AI, VR, blockchain), weak management and supervisory systems, unresolved tensions between IP protection and digital privacy/digital rights, economic and commercial barriers (high registration and protection costs), and technical complexities that impede effective enforcement.
Intervening Conditions: Structural impediments such as international sanctions limiting technology transfer and global market access, frequent privacy violations used as justification for heavy surveillance responses, institutional fragmentation and overlapping mandates among policymaking bodies, and unresolved legal questions regarding AI-driven creations.
Core Phenomenon: The accumulation of these conditions yields a generalized state of IP system inefficiency manifested as reduced incentives for domestic creators, escalation of legal disputes, declining competitiveness of Iranian creative industries internationally, and brain drain among specialist talent.
Strategies and Actions: Interviewees proposed multi-pronged remedies including the development of comprehensive rights-management systems and integrated monitoring platforms, adoption of protective technologies (such as blockchain for transparent ownership records), creation of arbitration and mediation mechanisms for multi-stakeholder ownership disputes, updating statutory instruments to explicitly address AI and digital works, pursuit of international standardization or selective accession to international instruments, and broad-based public and specialized education programs.

Projected outcomes of implementing these strategies include improved legal security for creators, stimulated innovation in digital technologies, better alignment with international norms, reduced litigation, enhanced global market access, and favorable macroeconomic effects including job creation and export growth.
Discussion & Conclusion
The study’s findings echo global scholarship on IP challenges in the digital era while highlighting context-specific obstacles for Iran. Commonalities with international studies include the disruptive role of AI and virtual environments (e.g., the metaverse) and the need for legal modernization and technological countermeasures. Distinctive national factors—chiefly Iran’s non-membership in key international IP agreements and the constraining effects of international sanctions—accentuate the urgency for indigenous, adaptable policy solutions. Practically, the research recommends clarifying legal definitions for digital and AI-generated works, centralizing policymaking to resolve institutional overlaps (the Supreme Council of Cyberspace is identified as an expedient candidate), and strengthening enforcement through specialized courts and capacity-building within executive agencies. Where formal accession to global treaties is politically or economically impractical, the study suggests regional or like-minded-country conventions (for example among Islamic countries or Non-Aligned Movement states) to harmonize protection standards while accommodating local socio-cultural considerations.
Technologically, the authors advocate pragmatic adoption of blockchain-based registries and enhanced e-services (online filing, search, and payment systems) to lower transaction costs and improve traceability. Complementary measures include financing mechanisms (specialized funds for creative projects), establishment of innovation centers to support commercialization, and comparative legal studies to import best practices. The study emphasizes that any reform must balance rights protection with digital privacy and public access to knowledge, underscoring the need for transparent, participatory policymaking.
In conclusion, addressing IP challenges in Iran’s digital creative industries demands coordinated legislative reform, institutional consolidation, technological investment, and robust education programs. Implementing the proposed multi-layered strategy can convert current liabilities into strategic assets, enabling the domestic creative economy to grow sustainably and to compete more effectively on the international stage.