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Russia might hand collective licensing to a state agency
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 27 August 2015
The Russian government might be about to meddle some more in the country’s collective licensing system, with a new proposal that a state agency be set up to process royalties for music rights owners – both songs and recordings – where collective licensing applies.
As previously reported, the three collecting societies in Russia, which collect song royalties, recording royalties and private copy levies respectively, announced they were merging last month, though the boss of the recording rights society, VOIS, claimed the decision to merge had been taken at a meeting where he wasn’t present, and as a result he was asking the Russian culture ministry to intervene.
Since then, proposals have been floated that rules that mean only state-approved collecting societies can operate in Russia be relaxed, allowing rights owners to choose which societies represent them, and to set up new performing rights organisations if they so wish.
That proposal was criticised by some, including Andrei Krichevsky, who heads up a state run record label and is Deputy General Director of the country’s song rights collecting society RAO. He was subsequently beaten up in Moscow, though it is still being investigated whether that incident was linked to his outspoken remarks about copyright reform.
But now, according to Billboard and Russian business newspaper Vedomosti, ministers are proposing more or less the opposite of that recent plan, having one organisation run by the state to manage all collective licensing in music. The country’s Deputy Communications Minister Alexei Volin said: “Our principal stand is that [collective licensing should be managed by] an organisation completely controlled by the government. It should be absolutely transparent so that it could be regularly audited by the Audit Chamber”.
So, make of that what you will. It is thought amendments to relevant Russian laws are now being drafted, which might offer some clarity as to what’s actually going on.
