Month: January 2014

It is likely that if a German traveler takes a stroll on Enqelab Street in Tehran, which is home to the book market and also the center of book, CD, and DVD street vendors in the city, they will be amazed to see that the book “Mein Kampf” by Hitler, which is not allowed to be published in Germany itself, is being sold with an official permit from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in bookstores; however, some novels by George Orwell, Milan Kundera, D.H. Lawrence, and others must be purchased from the black market due to their prohibition, which is also a thriving market.

Undoubtedly, this imaginary traveler of ours will be amazed that they can easily purchase the newest Hollywood films that have not yet been released in Europe from street vendors on DVD, with the best quality and Persian subtitles, for about forty cents. The price of Windows software, Photoshop, or computer games is sometimes even cheaper than this. The black market may not be as cheap, but it is still more cost-effective compared to original books with official printing licenses.

Iran has one of the most thriving black markets in the world for prohibited goods, ranging from drugs and alcohol to DVDs of movies and music, and books. One of the main reasons for the growth of this black market is the weak laws and lack of government protection for domestic products, as well as Iran’s failure to join the Geneva Convention, also known as the Copyright Treaty, which protects the rights of authors.

The widespread and organized distribution network, along with the low cost of these products, especially in terms of book quality, reinforces the belief that some government officials are involved in this highly profitable business. This suspicion and belief is also prevalent in the market for alcoholic beverages and drugs, which are much more profitable than books and electronic software. Although this underground trade is detrimental to cultural policies of the government, it still involves some government officials due to its profitability.

The effects of censorship, the top candidates of the black market book.

In Iran, works that are subject to censorship have a good chance of being released in the black market without censorship. But which areas are more likely to be censored? In Iran, especially books from certain sensitive areas are closely examined and censored with more strictness.

Criticism or having a different perspective on the political views of the Islamic Republic of Iran is considered taboo. For example, criticizing the leader of Iran or expressing opposition to the declared views of the leader, Iran’s nuclear program, proposing relations with America or Israel, and criticizing the clergy are all considered taboo subjects.

2. There are works in criticism of religion, especially Shia religion, that promote other religions, even works with a different approach from the official viewpoint of the Islamic Republic about religion (for example, in recent years, books on Eastern mysticism have not been allowed to be published, with the assumption that they are considered a rival to Islam) and are often not allowed to be published or heavily censored.

3. Works in which scenes and erotic or even private relationships outside of marriage are depicted, are censored or not allowed to be published.

4. Works that are considered by Iranian censors to promote Western lifestyle are either censored or not allowed to be published. For example, scenes of drinking alcohol, dancing, women’s nudity, and sometimes even mentioning jazz music and ties and bowties have been censored.

The intensity of censorship and sensitivity varies in each of the mentioned areas. For example, political censorship is carried out with greater intensity, followed by religious censorship, then moral censorship, and finally cultural censorship with precision and seriousness.

But the main issue in this matter is the lack of a specific guideline for censorship. As a result, censorship is carried out without clear and definite rules, and it is subject to the discretion of the censorship department employees. Therefore, most of the time, the personal interpretation and discretion of the censorship employee intensifies the censorship. For example, there have been instances where novels against fascism or other totalitarian systems have not been granted permission for publication under the interpretation that it indirectly criticizes the Islamic Republic or the system of Wilayat al-Faqih.

Examples of black market book works.

More or less, any book that is well received by readers, brings its head out of the black market. The majority of the black market is dedicated to books that are popular but not allowed to be published. Many of these books were published during the previous government and now, in the Islamic Republic, their publication is met with obstacles. For example, novels and romantic or erotic poems such as the works of Forough Farrokhzad, D.H. Lawrence, Nana by Emile Zola, romantic and popular novels by Iranian writers such as Mohammad Hjazi, R. Etemadi, Parviz Ghazi Saeed, and others; works with anti-religious themes or a critical approach to religion, such as some of the stories and writings of Sadeq Hedayat, works by Ahmad Kasravi, thirty-three years by Ali Dashti, and others; and in general, books that for whatever reason are deemed harmful by the censors, such as

Sometimes, books from the black market were allowed to be published during previous governments, for example during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. However, with the cancellation of their publishing license in later governments, they were removed from the black market. Works such as Milan Kundera’s novels, 1984 by George Orwell, and Animal Farm by George Orwell fall into this category. Sometimes, works can be found in the black market that were initially granted a publishing license during authoritarian governments like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s, but were later confiscated. These include My Sad Russian Memories by Marquez, or Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse.

One should not assume that all books in the black market are ones that have been officially banned. Sometimes, books that are in high demand are illegally copied and reproduced underground, and sold at a lower price without the permission of the publisher or the authors. This includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, university textbooks, and popular novels such as Harry Potter. Interestingly, sometimes these unofficial copies, made using different techniques such as xerox, risograph, etc., have better quality than the original versions due to the use of higher quality paper or better binding. They are also sold at a lower price due to not having to pay for expenses such as typesetting, cover design, copyright, or translation.

Most of the mentioned books can easily be obtained from street vendors, but some books are also found that no one dares to directly sell in the market. These works are books that have been written directly or indirectly against the leader of the Islamic Republic or the Islamic government, such as books by anti-Islamic Republic groups. It is therefore surprising that sometimes books criticizing or even rejecting Islam can be found in the streets of Tehran, but printing and selling even underground critical political works against the Islamic Republic is much more dangerous and is closely monitored and punished with special sensitivity.

Some observations about the black market for books in Iran.

In any case, having a book listed on the Ministry of Culture’s blacklist is a great opportunity for wider distribution in the black market. In this situation, only those who follow the law, namely the official publisher, author, and translator, suffer financially, but the work itself, which sells an average of two to three thousand copies in its legal form, reaches higher circulation (depending on market demand, sometimes up to tens of thousands of copies) and exposes its underground duplicators to considerable profits.

A humorous point in this matter is that some writers who, for whatever reason, do not have high hopes for the sale of their work, welcome the inclusion of their book’s name in the black list of the Ministry of Culture and other government institutions. It has even been seen that some writers have tried various methods, such as spreading rumors or writing critical reviews under a pseudonym against their own book, in order to make their work condemned by government institutions and gain fame, and to create demand in the black market for their work.

However, the existence of the black market and the lack of acceptance of copyright laws have not been beneficial to consumers. In addition to causing financial harm to publishers and authors, the black market and disregard for copyright laws have also caused harm to readers for various reasons. For example, the disregard for copyright laws in Iran has led to the publication of numerous low-quality translations of popular books. Sometimes, individuals have even sent a book to the market under a new translation name after making minor changes and rewriting an old translation. In a previous generation, during a period when the works of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig suddenly became fashionable, profit-seeking publishers also released the works of other authors under the name of Stefan Zweig. This misfortune also befell writers such as Agatha Christie and Aziz Nesin. It is said that the number of works published by these authors in Iran is more than the number of their own books!

Furthermore, the uncontrollable black market has resulted in never having accurate statistics on the sales or number of readers of banned works. For example, no one knows how many hundreds of thousands of copies of Sadegh Hedayat’s novel “Blind Owl”, the father of modern Iranian fiction, have been published so far. In addition, the prevalence of the phenomenon of producing electronic versions and even PDFs of books and sharing them online without the permission of the publisher or owner of the work has practically made it impossible to estimate the number of readers of a work.

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…and the empty space of the law is the right of the author.

Iran’s failure to join the Geneva Convention on Copyright has caused dissatisfaction and anger among publishers and writers around the world towards Iranian publishers, and has tarnished the printing and publishing industry in Iran in other countries, especially in Europe and North America. On a larger scale, Iran’s refusal to accept this treaty is also seen as a barrier to the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

Although many writers, translators, and even some Iranian readers are in favor of Iran joining the copyright treaty, neither government officials nor most publishers are particularly concerned about it.

Government officials know that by joining this agreement, foreign publishers will not easily be given permission to censor their books in Iran. However, the main reason for the reluctance of Iranian publishers has another cause. Due to the crisis in the book publishing industry in Iran, caused by high printing and publishing costs, low reading rates, and consequently low numbers of printed books, strict auditing by government institutions, and so on, publishers are afraid that adding another cost in the form of copyright fees will hinder their already difficult activities.

However, in recent years, some publishers have tried to convince foreign publishers of the critical state of publishing in Iran through negotiations, in order to gain their agreement to easily grant permission for their works to be published by Iranian publishers. On the other hand, many foreign publishers have also agreed to comply with symbolic copyright from Iranian publishers after becoming aware of the publishing situation in Iran.

In this way, it seems that gradually intermediate solutions will be found and more publishers will join publishers such as Ghoghnoos and Ofoq, who obtain permission to translate and publish from foreign publishers. Undoubtedly, in this case, Iranian readers will have more confidence in the quality of translations and will turn to these books.