A new federal agency may be created to step up oversight and regulation in the sphere of intellectual property, Vedomosti reported Thursday.
The Economic Development Ministry has sent the government a draft of a presidential decree creating this organization on the order of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, a state official said and a spokesman for Shuvalov confirmed.
Shuvalov commissioned the decree after reading a ministry report that described the current system of collecting and distributing royalties as opaque and unregulated, the official said.
The report recommended that the government order royalty collection organizations to disclose the statistics they use when distributing funds to copyright holders. It also proposes conducting yearly audits of the organizations and setting limits on their expenditures.
According to the decree, the new agency would take on all the functions of the current Federal Service for Intellectual Property plus the additional duty of monitoring protection of intellectual property rights and the regulatory environment.
Unlike its predecessor, which is subordinate to the Economic Development Ministry, the agency would answer directly to the government.
The two non-government organizations that now collect and distribute royalties — the Russian Union of Right-Holders, or RSP, and the Russian Author's Society — would continue their work "at least at first," an unidentified state official said.
RSP President Nikita Mikhalkov, director of such classic films as Burnt by the Sun, plans to nominate himself as head of the new agency, the official added.
An individual close to Shuvalov confirmed that Mikhalkov could be a candidate, but said that the president and prime minister will ultimately appoint the agency's head.
"The creation of a single agency for overseeing this market is positive," an executive in one authors' society said. "Now many agencies are engaged in this issue and we constantly encounter disagreements in their positions."
Although the Culture Ministry is technically responsible for the government's intellectual property policy, the Communications and Press Ministry, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property and the Interior Ministry also deal with these issues in different areas of the economy.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
