Russian Union of Rights Holders, headed by famed director Nikita Mikhalkov, has won a government license to collect fees on imported electronic devices and blank recordable media, Interfax reported Tuesday.
The group competed with the rival Russian Society for Allied Rights for the lucrative business that could be worth $100 million per year. The state communications watchdog that awarded the license did not explain why Mikhalkov’s organization won.
A controversial state program will see the group collecting 1 percent of costs of blank media and electronic devices to redistribute between copyright holders in a bid to fight losses inflicted by piracy.
(MT)
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