Turbo squid issues with Iranian artists?!

#1

I have had a collection of 3d models and CG materials from different international artists under my supervision published in Turbo squid for nearly 5 years.
http://www.turbosquid.com/HTMLClient/Search/Index.cfm/FuseAction/ProcessSmartSearch/istIncAuthor/adel3d/blAuthorExact/y
And all the benefit goes to a cpmpany in Germany.
This time it was supposed to be like previous years until they decided to block the ammount becuse they said they can not have any transaction with iranians. Seems they are afraid to have art business with Iranians :argh: (All the emails and sales info had been recorded) I am an internationally known artist and do freelancing in different places and at the same time supervising this group of artists who present their assets to Turbo squid in the title of Adel3d materials .Everybody chose adel3d becuase they agreed it is known internationally .
Now Turbo squid makes an excuse to freeze the ammount of money because i am iranian.I think this may cause artists to loose faith in businesses and companies who sell artists products .We have contacted them many times and they don’t give any reasonable response.
Although there are lots of trades and business between two countries in art ,sports cinema,movies,handicrafts ,carpets ,caviar…and there is no problem.
It’s like that the producer of the movie ‘The body of lies’ doesn’t pay Golshifte Farahani our iranian actress now playing in Hollywood because she is an iranian?
I wonder if what they do is legal or …
Now i need you artists to give me your thoughts about it or if you have any info about this issue give me the links please. I’d like to know what is the iranian artists position in the world.
Here are some links to see.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/video-search/m/21268906/iranian-art-industry.htm?pageid=38813

http://www.parstimes.com/iranian_american.html

and more …

#2

i don’t have any info about Turbo squid,but me as Freelance Artist have many Problem

with Money transaction,many wants to work but we cant do works inside iran.

Hope this problem solve as soon as possible.

#3

i know how you feel right now…i feel the same these days…like when some CG colleges like vancover film school emailed me and told me that they cnt accept student from IRAN…i mean what the @$#%???aren’t we already paying them???not only schools but some companies too…

this happens when some stupids involve Politics with ART…

#4

ah, really sorry to hear this Adel, so disgusting

I think it's becoz of new sanction programs against Iran,
YM!, Skype, paypal and hotmail disabling their service to Iranians also! I can't login in my accounts from Sunday! (I hope CGS didn't do it for someonesake atleast!)

US stepped up sanctions to make more economical pressure to Ahmadinejad's government, although I dunno how it would make any pressure to someone idiot like him I doubt if used internet ever in his life!

From one side we have almost whole the net filtered (flickr, myspace, youtube, imageshak, photobucket, facebook, bbc, …!) and harsh restrictions like speed limits! etc by our stupid government, and now from the rest of net … yup! we can be banned then!!! such a beautiful world really to exist (as artists)!

yup, after all, seems its main goal is “more pressure” for ppl just like us not those on “eccentric” government! ah! hate all of em idiot politicians!
I DIDN’T VOTE TO HIM! AND I DON’T KNOW SOMEONE WHO USING NET VOTED HIM EVEN!:banghead:

anyway buddy, I have no idea really, you can use VPN and say you are not Iranian! :blush: if it help! or maybe just continue sending emails, asking for possibility to transfer the account to someoneelse! or … what else you can do then?! :cry:

I doubt if our problems being solved from either side! but hope this one solved by soon really, let us know if anything we can do buddy,

take care,
mim,

#5

I’m so sorry about it. I don’t know the solution but I’m looking for it. If i find a good answer for this problem, I will tell you soon.
Best wishes for all of my nice artists of the nation.

Alireza

#6

Wow… I am at loss of words. This is completely unacceptable and disgusting. I think you need to go up the chain at Turbosquid and find out who’s in charge.

#7

hi adel! i used to work from iran for 3 years before i move to dubai and i worked with a company in uk , china and denmark. there was no problem about sending money to my account in iran at all! the only problem is that they can not send american $ ! but they can send you euro and pound directly to your account in iran ! i never had any problem with that and the money was coming to my accoun in aboud 3 to 7 working days! sometimes 24 hours!
definately there isn’t any problem with iranian bank to recieve pound or euro! so ask them to do that! and if they don’t, it means that they don’t want to send money! some of them are thinking that we don’t know these things and they will try to use iranian people for free and i had this problem also! i’m 100% sure that there is no problem with iran but just US$ !

#8

Thanks guys for your ideas and support.But I have to clarify some points here:

1.We have no transaction problem because the property belongs to a German company and the money goes to a bank in Germany.

2.They may have problem because the models are published in my name.So they have problem only with my nationality.

3.This bugs me when they have problem with Iranians although art doesn’t have any bounderies.I have not much benefit from them but I wanted people to know why a company should have problem with Iranian artists .

#9

That is sad to hear Adel. Unfortunately there are some people in US that can’t seperate their govenment politics from their professional jobs or indivituals. One might expect to find more open minded people in Art but that is not always the case.

However, I am not exactly sure that if this is a state rule that all the US companies should follow or is it just their own decision to not work with the Iranians.

Until the Iran and US relations doesn’t become a more normal one, it might be a good idea to work with other parts of the world. Fortunately US is not the only country in the world with CG industry, even if it is the strongest.

I wish you luck!

Cheers

#10

this is unacceptable. There should be no problem transferring money to you in pounds or euros. They are using this as an excuse not to pay you your money. I am sorry that this is happening to you.

#11

Hmm, if the money goes to a German location then any sanction should be irrelevant. They are not doing business with the Iranian government. They are doing business with a company that for all intents and purposes operates out of Germany.

If the problem is simply that you are Iranian then I can’t imagine they are operating legally. Whatever the problem is, they still have your money and I would get legal counsel if the amount warrants it. If the amount is too small then perhaps you can get someone outside of Iran to take symbolic control of the account on Turbo Squid while you still control the account.

Good Luck

#12

thanks for understanding what i am saying and ur suggestion.
exactly .i agree with u but the problem is that they don’t want to listen .The models are made by different artist and they have already contacted them from other countries.:shrug:

#13

Adel,

I am sorry to hear this.I think they have issues with those artists who are living inside Iran.can you clarify this if they have issues with Iranian nationals or Iranian residents.

many art deals with Iranians are through UAE like
world famous art auction Christie’s and Bonhams.

In my opinion,
open a bank account out of Iran and keep trading with that.
you will need residence visa of a neighborhood country.
then try to clarify this situation by asking some lawyers advice.
Hopefully in this case you could keep your artist’s group.

PLEASE DON’T GIVE UP.

It is Sad to see political punishments are at individual expenses.

best of luck.

#14

I’m so sorry to hear this Adel.I never thought or even imagined someday this would happen.ofcourse I agree with mim about every single word.I will not vote A.N too :smiley: . and I’m sure it’s just an excuse to use you. and I think siamak is right.
the same problem happened for some of my persian friends too.they buy things and after they receive the money,they said they don’t have business with iranians and they even didn’t pay their money back.
I’m not sure if it’s legal !!! it’s just abusing of a country’s problem
I’m saying don’t give up too.all my friends that had same problem just give up but if someday something like this happened to me,I’m sure I’ll never give up

good luck man:thumbsup:

#15

If the Government institutes economic sanctions against a particular country, then I believe US businesses have no choice but to comply. Its likely not a matter of TurboSquid choosing not to work with Iranians, its that they are legally not allowed to. Its unfortunate that individual artists are being caught up in this, but I do not believe its necessarily TurboSquid’s fault.

#16

You’re right Timothy, but what could be the solution?

#17

There is no law for businesses about iranian artists… see the link you’ll get it .if u are in LA you see lot of iranian artists working there without any problem.plus,as i said before i am the artist responsible for other artists in the site & the payment is the property of Germany.so it shouldn’t be a problem.
please check the links to see how other iranain artists work in uS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfXAowg0HXY&feature=related

or

Masters of Persian Music - UCLA

shajaryan-alizadeh …

#18

As I said, I’m not 100% certain how it works and why it seems that some are not affected. I still think your best bet is to take it up with TurboSquid in person. If you are right about there being no government restrictions, then they have no grounds.

#19

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.