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Customs Service Looks Out for Authors
The Odintsovo customs posts, which clear imports of audio and video recordings and recording equipment, has been demanding letters of guarantee that companies are paying the copyright holders of material that may be recorded with the equipment being cleared. The alternative to such a letter is to conclude an agreement with the Russian Society for Associated Rights, a centralized collector of copyright payments. This practice began on September 11.
The collection of royalty payments for authors is included in the 1993 Russian law on copyright and is the subject of a presidential order of 1998. There has been no practical mechanism in place to carry out those requirements, however. In the summer of this year, Federal Customs Service head Andrey Belyaninov distributed a letter reminding his subordinates of the legal requirements. The types of recordings and recorders and the amount of the fee they should pay is not specified in legislation, so the letters of guarantee from importers is being taken until those details are worked out. After Belyaninov's letter was issued, the Northern Transport Prosecutor also took an interest in the matter.
The Russian Society for Associated Rights has suggested that 3 percent be collected on the import of television, audio and video equipment and 5 percent on CDs. Customs brokers predict court battles over the new fees. Alexander Onishchuk, president of the RATEK association of electronic appliance importers noted that the law does not prohibit the release of goods without guarantees. That is required in the 1998 presidential order, but importers intend to challenge the constitutionality of that order. The Russian Society for Associated Rights will not have the authority to collect royalty payments after the end of the year.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 17, 2007
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