Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property (Arabic: الملکیة الفکریة) is one of the new jurisprudential issues, meaning the exclusive right of the owner to exploit intellectual ideas, inventions, and produced works, which possesses economic value and the capability of being traded. There is disagreement among Shi'a jurists regarding the legitimacy of intellectual and spiritual property rights. Some, such as Nasir Makarim Shirazi and Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Ruhani, recognize this right for literary works and inventions, while others, like Imam Khomeini and Lutf Allah Safi Gulpaygani, deny this right from a religious (Shar'i) perspective.
Definition and Importance
Intellectual property, or intellectual rights, has been defined as the exclusive right of the owner to exploit ideas, inventions, and produced works.[1] Some have added possessing economic value and the capability of being traded to this definition.[2] Intellectual property rights are divided into two categories: industrial property and copyright (related to creators of literary and artistic works).[3] The jurisprudential issue of intellectual property is considered one of the new jurisprudential issues.[4]
Intellectual Rights from the Perspective of Shi'a Jurisprudence
Shi'a jurists differ in their opinions regarding the legitimacy of intellectual and spiritual property rights. Some jurists, arguing that the title of Theft applies to copying intellectual property and inventions,[5] and also citing the conduct of rational people (Sirat al-'Uqala'), the general rule of "fulfill contracts" (based on the Verse of 'Uqud), and rules such as No Harm (Lā Ḍarar), believe in the prohibition of this act.[6] Others, citing Qur'an 2:159 and reasons such as the Rule of Domination (Taslīṭ), the Principle of Exemption (Aṣl al-Barāʾa), or the absence of a prohibition from the Lawgiver in this matter, believe that this act is permissible.[7]
Among the jurists who support intellectual property rights are Nasir Makarim Shirazi and Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Ruhani.[8] Nasir Makarim Shirazi considers copyright and patent rights as religious and legal rights for their owner. He believes that custom ('urf) considers these types of rights to be the property of the inventor and the owner of the work, and depriving them of it is oppression against them and causes liability (Ḍamān).[9]
Imam Khomeini and Lutf Allah Safi Gulpayigani do not consider intellectual and spiritual rights to have property value (māliyya). Imam Khomeini, regarding copyright, believes that anyone who buys a book can use it in any way, even copying it. Also, regarding patent registration, he believes that people cannot be religiously prohibited from imitating an invention.[10] Lutf Allah Safi believes that regarding the privilege of intellectual property rights, no binding contract has been made between the buyer and the seller of the work and invention to necessitate its observance.[11] According to Ahmad Mutahhari Sawuji, the author of the book Mustanad Taḥrīr al-wasīla, human nature is inclined towards imitation and copying. He believes that no prohibition has been received from the Lawgiver regarding this issue.[12]
Notes
- ↑ ʿĀlamī & Khurāsānī, "Sariqat wa mālikīyyat-i fikrī dar fiqh-i Ahl-i Bayt (a)", p. 4.
- ↑ ʿĀlamī & Khurāsānī, "Sariqat wa mālikīyyat-i fikrī dar fiqh-i Ahl-i Bayt (a)", p. 4.
- ↑ "Ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i fikrī", Intellectual Property Center website.
- ↑ Ismāʿīl-zāda, "Barrasī-yi ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i maʿnawī...", p. 94.
- ↑ Khurāsānī & ʿĀlamī, "Sariqat wa mālikīyyat-i fikrī dar fiqh-i Ahl-i Bayt (a)", p. 14.
- ↑ Gīyāhpūr, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i maʿnawī", pp. 42-45.
- ↑ Gīyāhpūr, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i maʿnawī", pp. 38-42; Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 625.
- ↑ Rūḥānī, Masāʾil mustaḥdatha, p. 225; Makārim Shīrāzī, "Ḥukm-i sharʿī-yi mālikīyyat-i fikrī...", Official Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, "Ḥukm-i sharʿī-yi mālikīyyat-i fikrī...", Official Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
- ↑ Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 625.
- ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, "Istiftāʾāt wa naẓariyyāt", p. 241.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Mustanad Taḥrīr al-wasīla, pp. 186-189.
References
- ʿĀlamī, ʿAbd al-Raʾūf & ʿAlī Muḥammad Khurāsānī. "Sariqat wa mālikīyyat-i fikrī dar fiqh-i Ahl-i Bayt (a)". Faṣlnāma-yi Muṭālaʿāt-i Fiqh-i Imāmiyya, no. 14, Summer 1399 Sh.
- Gīyāhpūr, Hādī. "fiqhī-yi ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i maʿnawī". Pūyesh dar Āmūzesh-i ʿUlūm-i Insānī, no. 5, 1395 Sh.
- "Ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i fikrī". Intellectual Property Center website. Accessed: 10 Ābān 1404 Sh.
- Ismāʿīl-zāda, Muḥammad. "Barrasī-yi ḥuqūq-i mālikīyyat-i maʿnawī dar ṣanʿat-i nashr az dīdgāh-i Islām bā taʾkīd bar nashr-i dījītāl". Faṣlnāma-yi Kitāb-i Mihr, no. 6, Summer 1391 Sh.
- Khomeini, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Qom, Intishārāt-i Ismāʿīliyān, 1414 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. "Ḥukm-i sharʿī-yi mālikīyyat-i fikrī wa dalīl-i ḥaq būdan-i ān". Official Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi. Accessed: 10 Ābān 1404 Sh.
- Muṭahharī, Aḥmad. Mustanad Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Qom, Chāpkhāna-yi Khayyām, 1434 AH.
- Rūḥānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣādiq. Masāʾil mustaḥdatha. Qom, Muʾassasa Dār al-Kitāb, 4th ed, 1414 AH.
- Ṣāfī Gulpāyigānī, Luṭf Allāh. "Istiftāʾāt wa naẓariyyāt". Faṣlnāma-yi Rahnamūn, Madrasa-yi ʿĀlī-yi Shahīd Muṭahharī, no. 2 & 3, 1434 AH.