YouTube deletes illegal copy of Iranian movie “Hussein, Who Said No”

TEHRAN. (Iranart) – YouTube has deleted an illegal copy of the Arabic version of the controversial Iranian movie “Hussein, Who Said No” from its platform following a threat from the film’s director and shareholders to take legal action against the video-sharing website.

YouTube said that it has taken some technical measures so that if the film is uploaded again on the website, it would automatically be deleted, the Persian service of ILNA reported on Monday.

Iranian director Ahmadreza Darvish’s movie about the uprising of Imam Hussein (AS) against the Umayyad dynasty in 680 CE was illegally uploaded on YouTube from a neighboring country and has been there and on several other websites since September.

Iran’s Farabi Cinema Foundation, as one of the main shareholders of the movie, which was officially banned in 2015, had previously announced its decision to take legal action against those involved in this piracy.

Darvish had also asked Iran’s police, Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, Legal Department of the Presidential Office and other relevant organizations to investigate the issue and to stop illegal copying of his film.

However, the film is still available on several channels of Telegram, but Darvish has called on people not to watch, download, or copy his film, and also to prevent others from doing these “haram and illegal actions.”        

Darvish spent 11 years making the film, which was completed in 2013. Its premiere during the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran in February 2014 sparked a storm of protest from some of the ulema over its depiction of Shia saints.

Source: Tehran Times