Market Trouble :An Analysis of a Judgment Concerning Unauthorized Adaptation of a Biography in a Cinematic Production: Profit or the Opportunity to Make a Profit?

Mirshekari, ABBAS; Abdi, Mona

doi:10.22034/analysis.2026.2084069.1190

Market Trouble :An Analysis of a Judgment Concerning Unauthorized Adaptation of a Biography in a Cinematic Production: Profit or the Opportunity to Make a Profit?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

ABBAS Mirshekari ¹

Mona Abdi ²

¹ Associate Professor of Department of Private and Islamic Law, Faculty of Law & Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

² Ph. D in Private Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/analysis.2026.2084069.1190

Abstract

Among the difficulties in the field of tort law is the distinction between the two titles of "loss of profit" and "loss opportunity to make a profit" concerning the sale of a product (goods, work, etc.), which have important differences from an academic and practical point of view.The similarity between these two concepts is such that many researchers and judges in their issued judgments, either consider them identical or use these terms interchangeably without taking into consideration to their distinctions. If the product offered for sale is a film, such a distinction becomes even more difficult due to some of the characteristics of this type of product, namely: 1. the intangible nature of this type of asset before production, 2. the non-decreasing basis of the income stream, and 3. the high level of uncertainty until the product is supplied to the market. The judgment under analysis, rendered by Branch III of the Shahid Beheshti Public Civil Court, is one that, although rejects any harm to the plaintiff due to the specific circumstances of the case, conflation between the abovementioned concepts is clearly noticeable in the literature it employs.Therefore, on the occasion of rendering the judgment in question, the opportunity has been taken to refer to their adaptation to damages incurred in the field of filmmaking, based on library studies and with a comparative and analytical approach, while distinguishing these two types of damages in general. The findings of this research indicate that, for applying these two damages in this specific context, distinguishing between pre-production and post-production stages is essential.

Keywords

unauthorized adaptation

loss of profit

loss of profitability

false causation

non-decreasing asset value

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