TEHRAN, Feb. 23--Head of Documents and Iran’s National Library Organization Ali Akbar Ashari has underlined the need for accession to copyright law adding that the entity will support publication of translated versions of foreign books.
According to CHN, he further said that once this is done, the organization will support the works facing legal entanglement by registering translations of foreign books which are published after attaining copyright.
Earlier it was agreed that the project would be undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. However apparently National Library officials did not wait for the ministry and began supporting publication of foreign works in the country.
In an interview with CHN, Ashari said, “I insist on access to copyright in our country.
“In the absence of copyright law, we incur two main losses. Firstly, the country’s publication industry will be viewed abroad as undisciplined and secondly, Iranian publishers will suffer losses.“
Many a book is published in the country at a higher cost but it is released abroad before it is marketed in this country, he concluded.

A statue in Tehran

TEHRAN, Feb. 23--A British sculptor has said that the people show less interest in sculptures which are maintained in exhibits and museums whereas such works promote art among the public when they are installed in urban areas.
According to ISNA, Allan Waters, who is one of the 16 artists participating in the ongoing Tehran International Sculpture Symposium, described the level of the event as high and said that all the instruments were made available to artists and there was no problem in doing the job.
However, he cautioned, it is important to pay attention to the quality of materials, otherwise the sculptures will be destroyed.
Therefore, countries organizing symposia should prepare facilities for protecting the sculpture, he noted.
Artists create artworks and return home, but the responsibility for protecting the undertakings lies with the host country, he said.
“If the statues are placed in museums, people may not visit the museums even once a year, but when they are installed across the cities, the public will see them anyway,“ he said.
Commenting on his participation in the symposium, he said, “I toured the country not only for attending the event but I liked to see Iran and become familiar with it from close.“

TEHRAN, Feb. 23--A reduction in the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry’s budget and the elimination of half percent of the ministries’ development funds for purchasing artworks has thrown the holding of second Tehran Art Expo into uncertainty.
According to CHN, in the budget bill for the Iranian year March 2007-2008 presented to the Majlis, half percent of the ministries’ funds, which was allocated for buying artworks with the aim of supporting artists, has not been included.
Deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance for artistic affairs, Mohammad Hossein Imani-Khoshkho criticized the move describing it a as a blow to the Art Expo.
Unfortunately, given the fact that most of the buyers of artworks in the expo are ministries, the exclusion of half percent (of ministries’ funds for purchasing artworks from the budget) will create financial problems for Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry in organizing the event.
This is while Imani-Khoskho had earlier told reporters that despite the fact the inclusion or non-inclusion of the half-percent ministries’ funds will have no impact on holding the event, Culture Ministry has a serious intention to convince the government to include the amount in the budget bill.
He also announced plans to hold Tehran Artistic Expo in the next Iranian year which begins on March 21.
Tehran Art Expo was first held in 2004 but was suspended two year ago due to the omission of the half percent ministries’ surcharge two years ago, he noted.
However, he did not specifically state whether the next round of the event will or will not be held.

TEHRAN, Feb. 23--Deputy head of West Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department has said that the construction of Urarto Specialized Museum in the provincial capital of Orumieh has been approved.
Asadollah Alizadeh told ISNA that construction of Azarbaijan provincial museum will begin in the year to March 2008 at a cost of 75 billion rials.
He noted that in addition to Urarto Specialized Museum in Orumieh, all museums in West Azarbaijan province will be equipped and renovated.
Commenting on the maintenance of historical sites, Alizadeh pointed out that the priority in this section will be given to renovating the historic square of Orumieh State and the surrounding buildings such as police, municipality and army headquarters.

TEHRAN, Feb. 23--Imam Reza (AS) Cultural and Artistic Festival will be held at the international level from the next Iranian year which starts on March 21.
Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry for provincial affairs said that the ministry plans to hold Imam Reza festival in a befitting manner by upgrading the quality to meet international standards, reported IRIBNews.
Karbaschi noted that the festival should leave behind perpetual and sumptuous works while retaining the same works for different cultures and age groups.
Meanwhile, secretary of Imam Reza (AS) International Cultural and Artistic Festival said that the festival was held in 23 provinces this year and it will be held in 30 provinces next year.
Jafari noted that the location, date and subjects of the festival will be announced soon.
“Imam Reza Cultural and Artistic Festival will be improved and held regularly every year,“ he added.
During a one-day meeting of deputy heads of the provincial culture and Islamic guidance departments nationwide, participants exchanged views on issues relating to the festival.

TEHRAN, Feb. 23--Head of the archeological team has said that funds will be needed to determine the precincts of the ancient Karkheh Portico with the aim of preventing farming in the vicinity of historic monuments.
Gholamali Bagheban told ISNA he plans to undertake topographical survey to determine the boundaries of Karkheh Portico which is a remnant from the Sassanid dynasty and covers an area of 400 hectares.
It was built during the reign of Shapour II (383-388 AD) and is located 20 km to the west of Shush City.
Bagheban noted that Islamic Azad University-Dezful Branch is conducting agricultural research near the archeological site. “We have already filed a lawsuit against Azad University,“ he added.

TEHRAN, Feb. 23--Paintings by Iran Doroudi, a veteran artist participating in the Visual Arts Exhibition titled ’Seven Views’, fetched the highest price at the event.
According to the News Office of Mah-e Mehr Gallery, a painting by Doroudi, with a price tag of 180 million rials, will be the most expensive artwork of this year’s Visual Arts Exhibit.
Tableaux by Nami Petgar priced between 80 and 100 million rials, Nosratollah Moslemian valued 90 million rials, Sadeq Tabrizi tagged 70 million rials and Aydin Aghdashlou priced 50 million rials are featured at the Niavaran Cultural Complex’s galleries.
However the prices of other artworks have been lowered with the approval of artists to enable most of the people to purchase the artworks.
According a gallery owner, Elaheh Javaheri, the prices averaged between five to eight million rials.
Even paintings which are less than one million rials are seen at the event, she said, adding that only the prices of a limited number of works by veteran artists run into several million rials.
Works by 170 artists, including Aidin Aghdashlou, Iran Daroudi, Seyyed Mohammad Ehsaei, Gizella Varga Sinaei, Hannibal Alkhas, Parviz Kalantari, Yadollah Kaboli, Gholam-Hossein Nami, Farah Osouli, Nima Petgar and Shahla Habibi are being exhibited in the event.
The exhibition is jointly sponsored by seven of Tehran’s art galleries.
’Seven Views’ exhibit opened at 4:00 p.m. on Friday in Niavaran Cultural Complex.

LONDON, Feb. 23--A file-sharing website has been ordered to reveal the names of users who posted copies of JRR Tolkien’s novels online by a US district court in New York, said BBC.
Several of Tolkien’s works, including The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, appeared on the eSnips site last year.
The site agreed to remove the documents but the author’s estate is worried that people will simply resubmit them.
The Tolkien estate’s lawyer said they wanted to notify the people in question that this activity was “unlawful“.
The lawyer, Steven Maier, said the Tolkien estate was “sensitive“ to the fact that most of the offenders were fans and did not seek commercial gain.
“We would hope that any further action would not be necessary,“ he added.
A spokeswoman for the eSnips site said it “cared about copyright owners such as the Tolkien estate“ but would not divulge private information about its users without a court order.
“We have asked the Tolkien estate to give our users a limited period of time to object to the subpoena,“ Hagit Katzenelson said.
“If they do not do so, we will co-operate with the Tolkien estate and forward to them any information we may have.“
Tolkien’s estate routinely takes action against internet infringers.
Last month, it obtained damages of $4,000 (£2,050) from an IT professional in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who repeatedly offered Tolkien’s works for download.
It also won a cyber-squatting case against a Canadian company that registered the jrrtolkien.com domain in 2004.
The estate has given publishers Harper Collins exclusive license over the sale of books, audio tapes and other merchandise related to the late academic.