Copyright protection in Our Country in 2022

It is not enough to invent and create something, it is also important to take care of the protection of your copyrights for the implemented. How things are going with this in Our Country in 2022 – in our material

Copyright is intellectual rights to works of science, literature and art (paintings, sculptures, photographs, and so on). Copyright is also inherent in drawings, maps, databases.

There is also a second meaning of copyright – as a sphere that regulates the legal aspect of the relationship of the copyright holder with the rest of the world.

The simplest example of copyright protection in 2022: someone posted a photo of a reporter without permission, and he wants to protect his copyright on the image. For example, to demand compensation or removal of a photo from an Internet resource.

Features of copyright in Our Country

Intellectual property is	Works of science, literature and art; IT programs and databases; performances and phonograms; broadcasting radio or television programs; inventions, utility models and industrial designs; selection achievements; topology of integrated circuits; production secrets, they are also know-how; trade names, trademarks and service marks; geographical indications, appellations of origin of goods; commercial designations
Relationship of copyright with other rights	Intellectual rights do not depend on the right of ownership and other property rights
Who is the author	A citizen whose creative work created the result. If the creative work was joint (two or more people worked), then the participants are called co-authors
Who is not considered the author	A person who has not made a personal creative contribution to the creation of the result. The authors do not recognize those who provided only technical, consulting, supervisory, organizational or material assistance/assistance
Validity of the exclusive right to a work (literature, films)	During the life of the author and 70 years after his death (counting from January 1, year after year of death). There are exceptions for those published under a pseudonym, repressed, veterans of the Second World War, and also if the work was first published after the death of the author
Duration of the exclusive right to perform (for artists, conductors, stage directors)	Throughout the life of the performer, but not less than 50 years. The countdown is from January 1 of the year following the year in which the copyright holder performed, recorded or reported the performance of the work.
Duration of the exclusive right to communicate a radio or television broadcast	For 50 years, counting from 1 January of the year following the year in which the message was broadcast
Validity of the exclusive right to a phonogram	50 years from 1 January of the year following the year in which the entry was made
Validity of the exclusive right to the database	15 years from the moment the manufacturer completed its compilation. The countdown is from January 1 of the year following the year of creation. If the database is updated, then the period is renewed
Validity of exclusive rights to an invention, utility model, industrial design	From the date of filing a patent application: 20 years – inventions; 10 years – utility models; 5 years – industrial designs
Validity of the exclusive right to a selection achievement	30 years from the date of registration in the State Register of Protected Breeding Achievements, and for grapes, tree, ornamental, fruit crops and forest species – 35 years
Validity of the exclusive right to the topology	10 years from the date of its first use or from the date of registration of the topology with the federal executive body for intellectual property
Terms of the exclusive right to a secret of production	Valid as long as the confidentiality of the information is maintained. After the loss of confidentiality, the right to a secret of production ceases for all copyright holders
What happens after the deadline	The work becomes public domain. Can be freely used without anyone’s consent or permission. At the same time, authorship, the name of the author and the inviolability of the work are protected. In his wills, letters, diaries, the author may prohibit the publication of his works

Copyright law

In 1993, Our Country passed a law¹ “On Copyright and Related Rights”. Now it has lost its power. Although some mistakenly still continue to refer to this document. It was replaced by one of the parts of the Civil Code – part four². It contains over 300 articles that explain and regulate many aspects of copyright.

You can also read about liability for copyright infringement in the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO RF). Article 7.12³ describes what punishment awaits the infringer of copyright and related rights, who set out to generate income, as well as sanctions for the illegal use of an invention, utility model or industrial design.

Plagiarism that caused major damage to the author of the original (more than 100 thousand rubles), as well as the illegal use of copyright objects, the acquisition, storage, transportation of counterfeit copies for sale on a large scale – all this is regulated by the Criminal Code (Criminal Code of the Federation). Penalties are described in article 146⁴.

Ways to protect copyright

Copyright sign

This is a kind of preventive measure. The copyright holder should notify everyone that this work has an author. To do this, the Civil Code says to place on each copy of the work the Latin letter “C” in a circle (©). In colloquial speech, this sign is called “copyright” – tracing paper from English copywrite, which translates as “copyright”. Next to © you need to put the name or names of the copyright holder and indicate the year of the first publication of the work.

“Copyright” will help protect copyright in case of litigation. A person or company that used a work without permission cannot say that they could not identify the author or were not aware that these rights belonged to someone. Although if © is absent, this will still not be an excuse for the violator in the case.

Copyright deposit

That is, its documentary fixation. Depositing is a way of fixing copyrights to works of literature, science and art. It is clear that under the law the rights of the author arise at the time of creation of the work. But in controversial situations, for example, in court, you will have to prove that you are the creator.

A strong argument is to document that this is your work. Deposition is carried out by specialized organizations.

Getting compensation for copyright infringement

Civil Code (Article 1301 of the Civil Code of the Federation)⁵ says that if your copyright is infringed, you have the right to demand from the infringer:

to pay damages;
or compensation.

The law even specifies the amount of compensation that the court can award – from 10 thousand to 5 million rubles. True, in 2022 this “fork” of the amount is recognized⁶ inconsistent with the Constitution. But these are legal nuances that relate to disputes with individual entrepreneurs in court. Be that as it may, the victim of the violation has the right to demand compensation.

Bringing the violator to administrative responsibility

To help article 7.12. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Federation⁷. Such cases are considered by courts of general jurisdiction. A lawsuit can be filed in the district court if the alleged offender is an individual. If a legal entity, then to arbitration.

Bringing to criminal responsibility

For this there is article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Federation⁸.But it is imputed only if major damage was caused to the copyright holder.

The damage that can be recognized as large, the courts determine from the circumstances of each particular case. For example, from the presence and amount of real damage, the amount of lost profits, the amount of income received by a person as a result of a violation of his rights to the results of intellectual activity or to means of individualization.

This article also punishes the illegal use of objects of copyright or related rights. And for the purchase, storage, transportation of counterfeit copies of works or phonograms for sale. But the damage must also be large.

And another important nuance: the statute of limitations on the case is two years. That is, after two years from the moment of the crime, the offender cannot be punished. The article also has a third paragraph, which punishes for the same thing, but already a group of people, if the damage is on an especially large scale (from 1 million rubles) or the criminal used his official position. Then the statute of limitations is ten years.

The procedure for protecting copyright in court

Contact a Copyright and Related Law Attorney

Of course, you can do everything yourself. The Civil Code has a voluminous part (part 4), which is devoted to copyright. It is to be relied upon. If you are not ready to dive into the topic, it is better to immediately start acting in tandem with the pros. In addition, the defendant will be able to recover the expenses incurred by the lawyer.

Fix the violation

A simple example: your picture is published on the network without permission – you need to go to a notary to certify a screenshot of the screen. For other areas of copyright protection, a test purchase may be required. For example, if a company has stolen the author’s drawing for an invention and releases goods for sale according to these schemes.

Pre-trial settlement

Before filing a claim, you must send a claim to the violator. And keep the second copy. An attempt at pre-trial settlement before applying to the arbitration court is mandatory.

In addition, in the Civil Code of the Federation (in paragraph 3 of paragraph 5.1. Article 1252)⁹ there is an important clarification. The mandatory claim procedure does not apply to disputes:

about the recognition of the right;
on the suppression of actions that violate the right or create a threat of its violation;
on the seizure of material carriers in which the result of intellectual activity or a means of individualization is expressed;
on the publication of a court decision on the violation committed;
on the withdrawal from circulation and destruction of tools, equipment or other means that are mainly used or intended to infringe exclusive rights.

For example, if the copyright holder of a book finds out that some printing house is printing a work without permission, he does not have to write a claim to the violator with the message: “stop doing this.” You can immediately contact the court and the police.

In other cases, if the claim is drawn up correctly, you will have all the evidence of the violation in your hands, then it may be possible to protect your copyrights without going to court. The violator can immediately admit that he is wrong in the situation and go to negotiations. At the same time, keep all correspondence – it will need to be submitted to the court if the offender does not want to go to the dialogue.

File a claim with the court

If it was not possible to resolve the dispute out of court:

file a claim with the court to recover compensation for violation of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity;
apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the illegal actions of the violator, followed by bringing to administrative and/or criminal liability (Article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Federation, Article 7.12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Federation).

After trial

If you managed to win the case, that is, the decision on copyright protection was made in your favor, then in a month it will come into force. However, one of the parties may appeal the decision during this time. But if there is no appeal, then you need to get a writ of execution. If the defendant did not do what you demanded (compensation, removal of materials, and so on), contact the bailiffs (FSSP).

Sample claim

The claim must include:

in header: the name of the court to which the application is submitted, the name of the plaintiff, his place of residence, the name of the defendant, his location, the amount of the claim;
in the descriptive part: tell about the current situation and all the circumstances of the violation, as well as list your evidence;
in the motivation part: describe on what you base your claims, in relation to copyright, you need to quote articles from the Civil Code;
Respondent Requirements: indicate the desired results, for example, pay you the amount of N, and also remove the material or stop using it;
list of documentsattached to your application.

The application must be submitted to the court along with copies according to the number of defendants. The list of documents must also be photocopied.

Here is an example of a possible misuse claim.

В [name of court]

Claimant: [data]

Respondent: [data]

Statement of claim

[Respondent’s data] illegally uses [indicate object of copyright]which I am the author of.

[on such and such a day] I found that [displayed, exhibited, distributed, sold, etc.]. although I did not give my consent to these actions.

According to Part 1 of Art. 1229 of the Civil Code of the Federation, a citizen or legal entity that has the exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity or to a means of individualization (right holder) has the right to use such a result or such means at its own discretion in any way that does not contradict the law. The right holder may dispose of the exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity or to the means of individualization (Article 1233), unless otherwise provided by this Code.

The right holder may, at its discretion, allow or prohibit other persons from using the result of intellectual activity or means of individualization. The absence of a prohibition is not considered consent (permission).

Other persons may not use the corresponding results of intellectual activity or means of individualization without the consent of the right holder, except for the cases provided for by this Code. The use of the result of intellectual activity or means of individualization (including their use in the ways provided for by this Code), if such use is carried out without the consent of the right holder, is illegal and entails liability established by this Code, other laws, except for cases when the use of the result of intellectual activity or means of individualization by persons other than the right holder, without his consent, is allowed by this Code.

[It is also appropriate to quote other provisions of the Civil Code of the Federation that relate to the essence of your claim]

I BEG:

recover from [respondent’s details] compensation for violation of the exclusive right in the amount of [insert amount];
ban [respondent’s details] Spread [title of work] and deliver all copies of it to the plaintiff.

Applications:

[list of documents that you attach to the claim]

[date, signature, transcript]

Note that it is difficult to use a sample claim without knowledge in the field of jurisprudence on copyright and related law.

During the trial, the plaintiff must prove the circumstances to which he refers as the basis of his claims. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare other procedural documents: petitions for the reclamation, examination and examination of evidence, for the inclusion of additional evidence, summoning witnesses, conducting an independent examination, and so on. It is impossible to expect that copyright protection will be limited to filing a lawsuit alone.