Let us kindly remind that in August 2022 a bill on compulsory licensing of copyright and related rights was submitted to the State Duma.
The bill provides for two mechanisms for the introduction of a compulsory license:
1) if the right holder with foreign participation unilaterally renounced the license agreement or takes actions that make it difficult for the Russian licensee to exercise the right to use the work granted to him, and at the same time the specified refusal or actions of the rightholder lead to the unavailability of the work on the territory of the RF, the Russian licensee has the right to file a lawsuit against the right holder for the provision of compulsory simple (non-exclusive) license to use such a work on the territory of the RF. The total amount of remuneration for the provision of such a license must be established in a court decision not lower than the price of the license established by the previously concluded license agreement on granting the right to use such a work.
2) If the work is "not used" on the territory of the RF, the Russian CMO, on the basis of an appeal from a Russian organization wishing to use such a work, if the copyright holder refuses to conclude a license agreement with this Russian organization, applies to the court in the interests of the Russian organization with a claim to the copyright holder for granting a compulsory simple (non-exclusive) license to use such a work on the territory of the RF.
The second scenario covers, among other things, the transfer of rights to releases not released in the territory of the RF.
In October 2022, a negative opinion was prepared on the bill by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Commission on Communications and Information and Communication Technologies (unites large IT and Internet companies, telecom operators, the Internet Video Association and other industry organizations).
In December 2022, the relevant committee of the State Duma decided to return the author's bill due to non-compliance with the introduction procedure.
According to the information available to the NFMI, the bill may be re-introduced in 2023.
We are ready to promptly answer media questions, provide journalists with the necessary information about the work of the Association, comment on news issues related to music and related areas.