Russia to set up Federal Copyright Service

(Interfax – MOSCOW, October 14, 2013) Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov chaired a meeting last week where it was decided that Russia would set up a Federal Copyright Service, Izvestia newspaper reported Monday.

“The new structure will offer government services to register and protect intellectual property, legal regulation, supervision and coordination of authorities in this area,” the paper says, citing an official from the first deputy prime minister’s office.

Shuvalov told the Economic Development Ministry to draft a presidential instruction on the new service, he said.

The decree is expected to be signed by January 1 and the service should start functioning on July 1 2014.

The question of what will happen to the Russian Patents Service is still being discussed, he added.

State Duma Information Policy Committee Chairman Alexei Mitrofanov said the main aim of setting up a copyright service is to coordinate the Russian Authors’ Society, World Intellectual Property Organization and the Russian Union of Right-holders.

“The new service will obtain supervisory functions, it will follow up reports from authors. All such disputes cannot be taken to court, that is a long and inert process. It is very important that leadership of the service should not include management of the inspected organization,” he said.

Deputies will try and get the Russian Authors’ society, World Intellectual Property Organization and the Russian Union of Right-holders to publish their reports online so that the public can see how much and for what money was received.

“We need a system where it is clear what authors obtained for the previous week. This will enable us to see what authors are popular, where their works are being peformed, how many concerts we have, how many professional teams in the country. At the end of the day I want to know what work is the most sought in the country,” Mitrofanov said.