Internet and copyright: Amendments to the Civil Code allowing to use free licenses for copyrighted material in Internet

Russian Ministry of Mass Communications has proposed to President Dmitry Medvedev to make amendments to the Civil Code, which would make it possible to use free licenses to the objects of copyright on the Internet.

The proposals are included in a report signed by Deputy Minister of Mass Communications Alexander Zharov. This report is submitted to the president pursuant to his orders, given after his meeting with representatives of the online community. At the meeting, besides other issues, were discussed "free licenses" (similar to western Creative Commons and GNU), allowing authors themselves to determine the mode of use of their works online.

Ministry of Communications proposes amendments to the Civil Code which equate conclusion of a contract on the Internet to its conclusion in writing. Another suggestion - licensing agreements could provide for using a work after someone has processed it. In the license author can describe terms of further use of his work, explains Sergey Plugotarenko, director of the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC), which participated in the drafting of the amendments. For example, the author of a photograph allows for its free use for recycling, but prohibits from selling works based on this photo.

It is proposed to add an item to the Civil Code authorizing the rights holder to unilaterally dispose of the exclusive rights to his works. However, reference to the report states that the rights holder should do so by posting a statement on a website of the federal authority. As to the name of the web site, the authors of the report do not specify it.

Creating a registry of intellectual property would be logical only for the Soviet cultural heritage and scientific works, believes the president of the Association of Internet publishers Ivan Zasursky. Work with the registry in real time is difficult, you can only use it for a quick check of the rights holder, he explains.