Culture and authority: Issues of copyright protection discussed at the meeting of the Council of Culture of the Chairman of the State Duma

May 23, 2013 in the building of the Bolshoi Theatre was held a regular meeting of the Council for Culture of the Chairman of the State Duma. The participants discussed the financing matter of culture, the Council’s participation in the activities of the Year of Culture in 2014, as well as legislative initiatives related to the protection of copyright. The outcome of the meeting was the decision to establish a working group within the Council, which will deal with the problems of legal regulation of copyright and related rights in the field of mass communications.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin spoke briefly about the decisions that have been taken, including through the work of the Council. Among them - the adoption of a law requiring the Government to report annually to parliament on the state of the culture, the adoption of the first reading of the law on patronage, the adoption of the law, enhancing administrative responsibility for violation of the requirements for preservation of cultural heritage.

The Chairman of the State Duma said that 2014 was declared the Year of Culture and urged his colleagues to prepare proposals for a common action plan. The main landmark is the development and adoption of a new law on contemporary culture, the expansion and deepening of the current state of the program. To oversee this area is entrusted to the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov.

As for the issue of copyright protection, Sergei Naryshkin urged not to focus on the polar solutions that offer holders and other participants of Internet communications, and step by step gradually accustom side of the relationship to the legal behavior.