Russian copyright society demands money from Crimean cable TV channels
Moscow - Simferopol, May 30 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Cable operators in Crimea are preparing to switch to Russian legislation, under which they may have to pay royalties to the Russian Authors' Society (RAO) for showing films to which RAO has the rights. Kommersant writes about this.
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Cable operators of the Republic of Crimea yesterday discussed the transition to Russian legislation at a conference in Yalta, organized by the Association of Cable Television of Russia (AKTR). One of the aspects of the new jurisdiction is the payment of royalties to RAO. According to Russian legislation, users of rights, including when “broadcast or via cable” of audiovisual works (for example, films and television films), are required to pay royalties to an accredited organization, which independently sets the amount of such payments. RAO, which is accredited in Russia, offers cable operators to pay a rate of 5% of the “amount of income,” which, in turn, is determined by the terms of the agreement between the company and RAO. A representative of the company confirmed yesterday that RAO has indeed “begun organizing work to collect royalties in the region.” ACTR Vice President Mikhail Silin told Kommersant that so far Crimean providers have not received letters from RAO, but this will happen when they accept the status of Russian legal entities and renegotiate contracts with TV channels.
The legislation of Ukraine fixes the rate at the same 5% - from the proceeds from the type of activity in which copyright objects are used. They were collected by the Audiovisual Rights Management Association “ARMA-Ukraine” and the Ukrainian Music Alliance (UMA). UMA director Pavlo Kalenichenko clarified yesterday to Kommersant that Ukrainian organizations no longer receive royalties from Crimean television and radio companies and cable companies. However, not all of them made payments before. As Kommersant Ukraine reported in February 2013, Ukrainian copyright organizations even sought to initiate criminal cases against several operators, but the local Association of Copyright Holders and Content Suppliers insisted that they should not pay, since they themselves do not produce content.
A similar dispute exists in Russia. Cable companies insist that only TV channels should pay royalties. Yesterday they were supported by Deputy Head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications Alexey Volin, who said in Yalta that telecom operators have nothing to do with the authors.
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