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Non-copyright royalties
The Ministry of Culture proposes to limit the maximum fee charged to human rights agencies for the use of unauthorized works to 45%. At the moment, the amount of funds that the company may have is not confirmed. At the same time, market participants call the proposed rates "unjustifiably high". And although in terms of content volume, this segment is significantly inferior to works whose authors are known, for example, in music alone its volume can be estimated at 5-10 billion rubles.
"Kommersant" has learned about a draft government resolution published by the Russian Ministry of Culture on the Rules.gov website on October 16, which coincides with amendments to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (CC RF) on the use of works protected by copyright. . If there is a copyright holder who cannot be accessed (the so-called orphan). Accordingly, the ministry proposes to establish a 45% limit at which OKUP (organizations implementing collective management of rights, such as the Russian Copyright Association - RAO) can withhold royalties for the use of "orphan" works. To cover expenses. Thus, the remaining amount will be kept in the creator's nominal account if he or she comes out ahead.
In general, the expenses of the OCUP include the creation and improvement of databases and information systems for recording objects of copyright and related rights, searching for authors and other copyright holders, etc., the document says. The authors of the bill stated that the Russian government has not currently established the amount of funds that organizations can withhold from investment income. If adopted, this resolution will come into force on March 1, 2025 and will be valid for six years. Earlier, the Ministry of Culture proposed to link the amount of interest income from the use of funds in nominal accounts of the OKUP to the interest rate of the Central Bank (see Kommersant of September 13). The Ministry of Culture and RAO Kommersant did not respond.
The OKUP, which has received state certification under the amendments to the Civil Code, accepts applications for the use of ownerless content. The organization must post a notice on the official website after confirming whether the applicant has tried to find the author of the content in question or whether he is truly unknown. If the author or copyright holder fails to appear within 30 working days, the OKUP reserves the right to conclude a license agreement with the applicant. The licensee must transfer the copyright holder's royalties to the nominee holder's account. The responsible OKUP and financial partners have not yet been legally determined.
"The new initiative of the Ministry of Culture assumes that the OKUP rating will be unjustifiably high - higher than world practice," says a Kommersant source on the music market. In the case of "orphan" works, he reminds, there is no need to adhere to such proportions, since, unlike author's works, the segments do not contain too many units of content. The National Federation of the Music Industry (which unites such labels as Black Star and Lotus Music) estimated the volume of musical "Orphan" productions at 5-10 billion rubles.
Another Kommersant source in the media market clarified that the scope of certification for collective rights management is limited by the method of using a copyrighted work (Article 1244 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). This applies to performances, broadcasts, copying for personal purposes, etc. "Methods classified as permitted joint management are implemented by copyright holders not individually, but only through the OKUP," the source noted.
At the same time, the music market participants interviewed by Kommersant say that they find it difficult to answer whether the rates proposed by the Ministry of Culture are market rates. At the individual (not group) level, this ratio will most likely be higher than the average. At the same time, the standards do establish a maximum franchise, but they are still different, the source points out.