Mehdi Tajallaei, a literary translator and foreign rights assistant at Houpaa Publishing House and Borj Books in Tehran, may be representative of a generational shift in Iranian publishing. Despite Iran's well-documented book piracy problem—stemming from international sanctions, outdated copyright laws, and lack of membership in key treaties like the Berne Convention—younger Iranian publishers like Tajallaei are voluntarily choosing to acquire international rights.
Tajallaei knows that acquiring foreign rights is an unusual move amid Iran's current publishing landscape. The country's 1970 copyright law predates digital publishing and doesn't align with international standards; what's more, Iran isn't a member of the World Trade Organization's 1994 TRIPS Agreement, meaning it doesn't recognize or enforce foreign copyrights. Plus, international sanctions block legal access to foreign publications, making pirated versions often the only option for Iranian readers, and popular foreign titles may appear in multiple translations.
PW spoke with Tajallaei at the Sharjah Publishers Conference earlier this month about his efforts to change these publishing norms.
This was your first time at Sharjah. What surprised you most?
I wasn't expecting to see this many people. At another fellowship I participated in—in Istanbul—most people I set up meetings with wouldn't show up. But here everybody showed up, and everyone had good initiatives. I met lots of passionate people, not corporate people. You can tell if the person sitting across from you is passionate about books and wants to sell or buy the rights because they want more people to have access to the books that they love.
You mentioned that copyright compliance is improving in Iran. Can you explain?
Publishing houses in Iran are getting more active to buy copyrights. It's getting better, and independent publishing houses in other countries are getting more supportive of each other.
How did international publishers react when you told them you were from Iran and wanted to buy rights?
Most of them knew somehow what is happening in Iran and how the situation is. They knew that how it is represented in most of the media is not true, and people are not like that. But some of them were surprised—okay, we didn't know there are some active publishing houses in Iran with original titles, or even publishing houses in Iran acquiring copyrights. That was weird for them.
Did you encounter any resistance?
I had one bad experience. When I sat down and told them we're a publishing house based in Iran, they just said, "Can I stop you there? We have worked with some publishing houses in Iran. It was extremely hard to transit the money and stuff, and I want the easiest way. Let's not waste each other's time." But that was only one case out of many meetings.
For those of us in the U.S. who have not been able to travel to Iran ourselves, can what we read be believed? That there is, for example, a “city of books” in Tehran?
This is an instance where being able to meet with people and see for yourself is important—and instructive. Book City does exist, it is the literal name of the bookstore chain in Iran. They do have dozens of branches and one huge one in Tehran, where they sell foreign-language books as well.
You have also said that indie bookstores are on the rise as well.
What’s especially interesting about them is how they’ve become spaces for so many things: conversations, music, workshops, film screenings, and all kinds of cultural and intellectual gatherings. That is, they've become one of the places where people are reclaiming their city and making it their own again. The most prominent, active, and popular bookstore of this kind is Dey Bookstore.
What's your takeaway from being more involved with the international publishing scene?
I have been able to meet with wonderful people and found lots of inspiration. Independent publishers especially were supportive and understood the situation.
