The Association of Television and Film Producers of Russia on Thursday came up with a set of legislative initiatives aimed to protect intellectual property from internet piracy.
The Russian legislation regulating intellectual property protection is so far sufficiently underdeveloped, especially in terms of protection from internet pirates. On average, pirate websites operating in the Russian segment of the internet make $53 million in profits annually.
The members of the association are convinced that laws which would oblige web administrators and internet providers to grapple with pirate content must be added to the country’s Civil Code.
A special law regulating copyright protection in the internet should also be adopted, the filmmakers said.
The internet is already hampering the process of content production in Russia because pirates steal substantial lumps of money from movie makers, Alexey Pimanov, producer form Ostankino TV company said.
The controversy between rights owners and web resources was fueled in 2010 by Alexander Akopov, head of Amedia company, who called all of the users of the Russian popular Russian network Vkontakte that offers free music and films “criminals.”
In late 2010, the Association of Television and Film Producers of Russia urged internet companies to remove all of the pirate films and videos from their websites until January 31, 2011. However, later the association withdrew its ultimatum. The filmmakers are now urging websites to remove only films which are currently being shown in theaters.
MOSCOW, April 14 (RIA Novosti)