Iraqi media figures call for stronger copyright protections against content copying

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi journalists, cultural producers and digital media organizations are increasingly raising concerns over the unauthorized copying and republication of news, images and video content across the country. Media researcher Haidar Shallal said the practice extends beyond professional debate and strikes at the core of journalism, noting that producers lose the value of their work while copyists gain reach and engagement. Shallal said weak professional and legal accountability has allowed the trend to continue, creating an uneven playing field between outlets that invest in original content and those that simply repackage it. Raad al-Mashhadani, a spokesperson for the journalists' union, said content copying is incompatible with professional standards and that the union's disciplinary and oversight committees have been documenting violations and referring them to its board of directors. Zainab Rabii, head of the Napoleon Hurma Center for Journalists' Rights, said gaps in legislation and penalties have further loosened the environment and called for journalists, cultural producers and specialists to come together to draft regulations suited to the digital era. Hadi Jallo Merei, head of the Iraq Observatory for Intellectual Property Freedoms, stressed that responsibility cannot rest with the judiciary alone and that the legislature must enact binding rules and tighten enforcement. Investigative reporting can require weeks of work and significant budgets, and when other platforms lift that material to draw audience and revenue, the production incentive for smaller outlets in particular is weakened. The calls come as reproduction and distribution tools continue to outpace documentation and tracking capacity in Iraq.