Internet and copyright: The draft law on the protection of copyright in the Internet presented for public discussion

Deputy Culture Minister of Russia Grigory Ivliev at briefing in Moscow has commented on the draft of the Federal Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in order to stop the violations of intellectual property rights in the information and telecommunications networks, including the "Internet".

Now the draft for two weeks is posted at the web site of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, where its public discussion is passing. Then the interested parties, including the online community, will be able to send their comments to the department, after which it will be improved based on experts’ opinions.

"We hope that by the summer of the draft will be submitted to the Duma", - said Ivliev. According to him, now it is obvious the "rampant infringement of copyright and related rights in the Internet space". He said that "we can see how this space evolves, more and more absorbing cultural values that are protected by copyright law". G. Ivliev added that impunity leads to "more and more tragic consequences".

The Deputy Minister said that the Ministry of Culture in this matter there has a common approach with the Ministry of Communications. "We must create a clear system not to hurt the end users of the product, - said Ivliev. - Our draft is addressed to the people who work professionally in the Internet - to the site owners, providers; we prescribe their duties and responsibilities. Now we do not see that the site owners feel their responsibility".

"It is important to determine the course of action in the event of a dispute - said Ivliev. - The draft should not be a tool that paralyzes action sites. . "If the court finds action of the owner to be illegal, he will be responsible. In general, initially it was discussed the criminal liability of offenders, but in the end we decided to make it administrative. "At this stage we believe it is sufficient", - said the deputy minister.

"The consequences of the adoption of the law are important, - said Ivliev. - We will create a system that will work for legitimate legal reasons; we will try to create a society in the right attitude to illegal content. I am confident that the adoption of this law will reduce legal costs of legal products".