Strangers are not allowed here – Newspaper Kommersant No. 205 (7406) dated 11/03/2022

As it became known to Kommersant, the Federation Council is discussing the possibility of creating a unified register of unfriendly copyright holders. It is proposed to include companies that support sanctions against the Russian Federation, regardless of the type of rights – foreign film studios, publishing houses, and software developers can get there. On the basis of the register, the presidential commissioner for intellectual property rights will have the right to apply for compulsory licensing of products that are not available in Russia. Content market participants and experts fear that such a mechanism will lead to increased piracy.

Anatoly Semyonov, head of the Association of Parallel Imports and Deputy Chairman of the RSPP Committee on Intellectual Property, proposed creating a register of unfriendly copyright holders in Russia. He unveiled the idea as part of a round table on the topic “Improving the legal regulation of consumer protection in the context of parallel imports”, which was held at the Federation Council on November 1 (Kommersant has a copy of the presentation).

According to the document, the list will include copyright holders who meet the criteria of “supporting sanctions by exercising their intellectual property rights” and “discriminating the territory of the Russian Federation regarding the availability of the copyright holder and his goods.”

The list will be the same for all types of IP, and then the regulators of each area (the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Digital Development, etc.) and the courts will decide which “counter-sanction measures” to develop. The register, according to Mr. Semyonov, will be maintained by the Presidential Commissioner for Intellectual Rights “with counter-sanction powers” ​​(there is no such position now). It will have the right to apply for compulsory licensing of IP objects inaccessible in Russia.

A new regulation has already been introduced with respect to unfriendly copyright holders: according to a presidential decree of May 27, Russian companies can transfer funds to them to a special ruble account “O” opened with a Russian bank in the name of the copyright holder (see “Kommersant” dated May 22). But this procedure applies only to previously concluded agreements.

Also discussed is a bill on a compulsory license, introduced by State Duma deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov (A Just Russia) in early August. Initially, he assumed that companies could obtain a compulsory license for the content of an unfriendly copyright holder who refuses to enter into an agreement through the courts – the project extended to all types of IP, including cinema, music, books, software, etc. But in October, the author stated that re-transfer it by limiting it to films for showing in theaters.

Dmitry Kuznetsov, in a conversation with Kommersant, supported the new idea: “The presence of such information, the registry will make the work of both users and interested authorities easier, and it will stabilize the market, helping to keep from piracy.”

The Ministry of Culture did not separately comment on the draft registry, but noted that they are now guided by “precisely the provisions of the decree on a special procedure for payments with unscrupulous copyright holders” dated May 27. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Digital Transformation did not respond to Kommersant. At the same time, the authorities are already expanding the list of products of departed foreign brands available through parallel imports. On November 2, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that the products of Marvel, Disney Pixar, DC Comics and other companies were included in the corresponding list. However, we are talking about toys and other products under the brands of Marvel, Disney Pixar and DC Comics, and not about their comics and films.

However, a number of market participants and profile associations do not support the idea of ​​creating a register. “The escalation of sanctions and counter-sanctions does not bring anything good either to the market or to consumers,” Alexei Byrdin, general director of the Internet Video Association (which unites ivi, Okko, Start, etc.), told Kommersant. The issue has already been fully resolved by a presidential decree on the use of a special “O” account for copyright holders from unfriendly countries, where the relevant criteria are defined, the National Federation of the Music Industry (NFMI, unites Warner Music, Universal Music, Kiss Koala) said. In any case, it is important not to isolate friendly partners who are ready to cooperate and, despite pressure from different sides, are aware of the importance of maintaining cultural ties, Oleg Novikov, president of the Eksmo-AST publishing group, told Kommersant.

Semenov & Pevzner managing partner Roman Lukyanov called the registry idea “counterproductive and, in a certain sense, dangerous.” “If a copyright holder left the Russian market, including following the sanctions, the logical consequence of this step is the growth of counterfeit and piracy,” the lawyer emphasizes. In his opinion, any additional tightening of regulation in this area (including the denial of judicial protection) “will only lead to an increase in the problem.”

Valeria Lebedeva