Figure of Persian god Mithras, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.

Iran, or Persia, is home to one of the world's oldest major civilizations, with first known urban settlements dating back to 7000 BC. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel names the Persians as the first Historical People. The Persian civilization begins in the Iron Age. The First Persian Empire was the only civilization in all of history to connect over 40% of the global population, accounting for approximately 49.4 million of the world's 112.4 million people in around 480 BC. They were succeeded by the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Empires, who successively governed Iran for almost 1000 years. The Muslim conquest of Persia (633–656) ended the Sasanian Empire of classical antiquity and was a turning point in Iranian history. Islamization of Iran took place during the eighth to tenth centuries and led to the eventual decline of Zoroastrianism in Iran as well as many of its dependencies. The achievements of the previous Persian civilizations were to a great extent absorbed by the new Islamic civilization. Persia's arch-rival was the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire.

In 2015, documentary photographer Carol Highsmith received a letter from Getty Images accusing her of copyright infringement for featuring one of her own photographs on her own website. It demanded payment of $120. This was how Highsmith came to learn that stock photo agencies Getty and Alamy had been sending similar threat letters and charging fees to users of her images, which she had donated to the Library of Congress for use by the general public at no charge. In 2016, Highsmith has filed a $1 billion copyright infringement suit against both Alamy and Getty stating “gross misuse” of 18,755 of her photographs. “The defendants [Getty Images] have apparently misappropriated Ms. Highsmith’s generous gift to the American people,” the complaint reads. “[They] are not only unlawfully charging licensing fees … but are falsely and fraudulently holding themselves out as the exclusive copyright owner.” According to the lawsuit, Getty and Alamy, on their websites, have been selling licenses for thousands of Highsmith’s photographs, many without her name attached to them and stamped with “false watermarks.” (more: http://hyperallergic.com/314079/photographer-files-1-billion-suit-against-getty-for-licensing-her-public-domain-images/)