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Category: Competition

US Copyright Office on “full-work” licensing

The Office believes that an interpretation of the consent decrees that would require these PROs to engage in 100-percent licensing presents a host of legal and policy concerns. Such an approach would seemingly vitiate important principles of copyright law, interfere with creative collaborations among songwriters, negate private contracts, and impermissibly expand the reach of the consent decrees. It could also severely undermine the efficacy of ASCAP and BMI, which today are able to grant blanket licenses covering the vast majority of performances of musical works – a practice that is considered highly efficient by copyright owners and users alike.

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In near future Russia will develop its own “digital law”

Within next five years Russia must develop its own digital law, believes deputy of Russian minister of economic development Savva Shipov. “Actually we need to create new digital law. It is necessary to achieve all these goals within next five years. It is maximum term we have. Afterwards it will be impossible to take a chance,” – he said.

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It was proposed to register traditional Russian patterns as trademarks

Russian Association uniting participants of art-industry marketplace (AURA) and National union of folk art-craft (NSHP) have proposed to Russian ministry of trade (MinTorg) to register graphical elements, typical to Russian folk craft, as trademarks. These two professional organisations along with MinTorg consider and discuss opportunity to protect traditional Russian pattern in Russian marketplace.

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In order to implement agenda on Russian digital economy will be created special commission

Russian prime-minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed two governmental decrees. One decree establishes commission on digital economy. Under this decree the commission has the right to make decision by absent voting. The decision can be made by the majority of the participated votes. More than half of commission members, who have the vote, must attend the voting; otherwise the decision will be unenforceable.

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SGA’s public comment on collective rights management rules review

The four points on which SGA lends its full support to the PROs are: (1) the need to shift performance royalty rate-setting from rate court judges to private arbitrators; (2) the imperative for recognition of an evidentiary presumption that direct, arms-length licenses (the terms of which are fully disclosed) voluntarily negotiated by copyright holders who have withdrawn rights from a PRO provide the best evidence of reasonable market rates; (3) the related Congressional adoption of the “willing-buyer/willing seller” standard in rate setting for musical compositions, and; (4) the extension to PROs of the ability to license bundled rights beyond the singular right of public performance to new media services.

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Proposal for regulation on the exercise of copyright and related rights for online transmissions of broadcasting in EU – rights issue

Through the principle of contractual freedom it will be possible to continue limiting the exploitation of the rights affected by the principle of country of origin laid down in this Regulation, especially as far as certain technical means of transmission or certain language versions are concerned, provided that any such limitations of the exploitation of those rights are in compliance with Union law.

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CISAC’s public comment on collective management rules review

The network of reciprocal representation agreements developed by CISAC and signed by its members ensures that author’s rights are protected and administered around the world and that each CMO is in a position to offer licensing solutions that cover broad repertoire. This system also ensures that royalties flow to authors wherever they are in the world.

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When plagiarism in design is a more likely the matter of competition than copyright

One Russian publishing house “Azbuka-Attikus” has filed complaint to the Moscow department of Russian Federal Anticompetitive Service (MDFAS) in relation to other publishing house “Eksmo”. According to complaint “Eksmo” has copied design of book covers created by “Azbuka”.

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