Discord content – ​​Newspaper Kommersant No. 188 (7389) dated 10/11/2022

The largest media holdings opposed the current version of the bill on compulsory licensing, which will allow the use of content from “unfriendly” countries without the permission of the copyright holder. They fear that intermediaries, including pirated resources, will be able to request the rights to the content, which will lead to an outflow of the audience. The working group on the bill plans to introduce it anew for certain categories of content, but they do not consider all the arguments of the holdings to be rational.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the recall of the Media Communication Union (ISS; unites the National Media Group, Gazprom Media, VGTRK, MTS, Rostelecom, MegaFon, etc.) dated August 26 and a separate review of Gazprom Media (GPM; TV channels NTV, TNT, Match TV, Avtoradio, Premier online cinema, etc.) dated September 21 on the draft law of State Duma deputy from the Just Russia – For Truth party Dmitry Kuznetsov on compulsory licensing of content from “unfriendly » countries. Both reviews criticize the initiative in the current edition.

The bill was introduced in early August (see Kommersant of August 19): according to it, Russian companies will be able to obtain inaccessible licenses through the courts for “film works, computer programs, music collections, literary and other works” of copyright holders from “unfriendly” countries who refuse in direct sale.

The result of the entry into force of the document may be an outflow of the audience of TV channels and online cinemas with “proper control over editorial content” in favor of resources that do not have such control, and pirated resources, writes the ISS. They explain that allowing any person to obtain rights to content will lead to a radical change in the composition of the media market participants and its “collapse”.

The union proposes to limit the circle of persons who will be entitled to apply for compulsory licenses, to enable TV channels and online cinemas to apply to the courts directly, without intermediaries in the form of a RMO (rights management organization), and also to take into account those who already had contracts with by foreign copyright holders as of 24 February. In the ISS, Kommersant confirmed that they proposed to finalize the initiative.

The GPM recall emphasizes that market representatives who already have exclusive licenses for foreign content will not be able to obtain exclusive rights through the courts, since the project assumes only non-exclusive licenses (when there can be several owners). The participation of rights management organizations in the mechanism entails the risks of creating a monopoly on new content, the PMG said in a letter.

The holding proposes a “diversified approach” for various categories of copyright in the development of compulsory license mechanisms. “Kommersant” at the GPM clarified that the project “needs to be finalized, since it does not take into account the interests of video platforms, on-air TV, book publishers, focusing only on the film community.”

The group working on the document plans to re-introduce it “for each specific type of copyright object and method of use” in order to “avoid blocking the project as a whole by those who are against the concept in part of their field of activity,” the deputy head of the group told Kommersant Anatoly Semyonov. “The arguments of the ICC, which, in fact, represents the NMG and GPM, boil down to the fact that they are ready to support the bill, but only if it preserves and strengthens their monopoly position in the market,” Mr. Semenov notes.

The rational grain of criticism, he clarifies, is that allowing, for example, a movie to hit offline rentals, an on-air advertising model, and subscription models of cable channels or online cinemas will bring down their income.

“The confusion is quite understandable,” since the introduction of such a mechanism is taking place for the first time, there is “simply no world practice,” says Sergey Zuykov, managing partner of Zuykov and Partners. He doubts that the initiative will be accepted in its current form.

Valeria Lebedeva