Month: March 2016

In July 2015, the UK Government consulted on proposed changes to the maximum term for online copyright infringement, increasing it from two to ten years to make consistent with the penalty for physical copyright infringements. This document summarises the responses received. The consultation asked one question: Should the maximum custodial sentence available for online and offline copyright infringement of equal seriousness be harmonised at 10 years?

New draft law proposes some interesting changes in Russian copyright law. First of all, it proposes to abolish private copying levy. Article 1245 of Russian civil code, providing remuneration for free reproduction of phonograms and audiovisual works only for private purposes, is to be repealed. As a consequence draft law also proposes abolishment of accreditation for collecting society which is to be authorised to collect private copying levy. Item 4 of Article 1244, providing state accreditation or in other words exclusive authority for collecting society to collect private copying levy in Russia, is to be repealed. But all other accreditations for public performance right in musical works and sound recordings survive.