Legal news
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The Federal Antimonopoly Agency (the FAS) initiated investigation with respect to non-payment of the author’s remuneration to the Russian Union of Rightholders (the RSP) against 23 companies. This number includes local subsidiaries of Samsung, Dell, and Nokia, and even the factory of microelectronics Angstrem

23 importers have fallen under the FAS’s suspicion as it follows from the agency’s letter to the Government. They are OAO Angstrem (factory of microelectronics), OAO Citronics and OOO Citronics Information Systems (divisions of the former IT-holding AFK Sistema), OOO Samsung Electronics Rus Company, OOO Tiemsi Rus, OOO Corporation ZTI-sviaztechnologies, OOO Intertechnology, OOO Dihaus, OOO Office Computer Systems Distribution, OOO Marko, OOO Open Computer Solutions, OOO Transcom, OOO Larestrading, OOO Notus, OOO Kronni, OOO Nokia (Nokia’s local division), OOO Dell (Dell’s local division), OOO Filst, OOO Asbis, OOO Panasonic Rus (Panasonic’s local division), OOO Unitrade, OOO BBK-Service (a service center of the BBK, Chinese manufacturer of electronics).

The FAS initiated the investigation against the importers in the middle of March. The agency’s representative refused to disclose then against precisely which companies the investigation was initiated.

Representatives of practically all the interviewed companies were either not available for the journalists or refused to give commentaries. The majority of them reported that they did not receive documents from the FAS. Alexey Dianov, the Angstrem’s representative, is surprised how that list could include the microelectronics factory: “We import only silicon slabs for our own production and microcircuits made by order in foreign countries and any recording of musical and video information thereupon is simply impossible”.

In autumn 2010 the RSP (formed by the Russian Author’s Society and Union of Filmmakers) received government accreditation for the collection of paying contributions in favor of authors of music and songs from importers and manufacturers of audio and video means, reproduction devices, and mobile phones – everything being used for personal copying of music, films, etc. The amount of the paying contributions shall be 1% of the value. Importers failed to win courts against the RSP and the Government in order to not pay this contribution. Finally, the Union succeeded in making arrangements with the majority of the importers of devices but some companies including such large companies as Nokia and Panasonic refuse to pay up to date. The importers refer to obscure wordings in the Russian legislation. For example, Nokia specified in one of the court actions that mobile phones are not used for sound recording and in the first place are used for the reproduction while only the recording falls within the definition of the “copying” in the Civil Code.

There have passed almost six months after the RSP’s complaint to the Federal Antimonopoly Agency and within this time the Union succeeded in making arrangements with some companies from the list, said Sergey Filatov, its general director, in his interview to the “Vedomosti”. Thus, the Tiemsi has already paid the RSP while the Open Computer Solutions, Office Computer Systems Distribution, Dihouse, Larestrading, and Marco, according to him, have acknowledged the need of payments, and the Union is making a check for the list of equipment with respect to paying contributions.

However, the FAS’s view is not supported by the Ministry for Economic Development. It reported to the Government that it considers there are no signs of violation of competition in the importer’s behavior. The Ministry keeps insisting that the system of author’s (copyright) paying contributions is not efficient and that the RSP’s activities should be more transparent. Mikhail Barschevskiy, the Government’s authorized representative in the highest courts, said that he supports the Ministry of Economic Development: “Besides that the system of author’s paying contributions is inefficient it contradicts the Constitution. How a tax can be actually collected by a private organization regarding whose activities and much less payments there is very few information”.

The Vedomisti, tks.ru, 8 April 2013 © Translated from Russian by V. Slavinskiy