[Commons-Law] Russian music piracy

[Pranesh Prakash]

Dear All,
A judge in Russia rules that "piracy" of American copyrighted music by a
Russian company does not violate Russian laws.

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>From the Beeb:

Russian music site to 'relaunch'
* The contentious Russian music download site allofmp3.com looks set to
resume business after a Moscow court ruled it was legal under the country's
law. *

A statement on the website, shut down in July, said the service would resume
"in the foreseeable future".

Before it closed, the cut-price music site claimed to be the second biggest
seller of downloads after iTunes.

It was the subject of countless lawsuits from UK and US record labels that
claimed it violated copyright law.

A representative of the music industry said if it started trading again it
would still be in "clear violation of copyright laws".

* No response *

The most recent case involving the service was a criminal prosecution
against Denis Kvasov, head of Mediaservices, the owner of the website.

He was tried for intellectual property infringement after record labels put
pressure on Russian prosecutors to bring the case to court.

But the court ruled that Mr Kvasov operated within Russian law.

"The prosecution did not succeed in presenting persuasive evidence of his
involvement in infringing copyright law," said District Judge Yekaterina
Sharapova.

During the trial, Mr Kvasov successfully argued that although the site had
paid no music industry royalties, it had paid 15% of its profit to a local
organisation, the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (Roms) in
accordance with Russian law.

"We pay royalties to those who sign up with us and ask for them. But none of
the majors, among them I mean labels like EMI and Universal, want their
money," Oleg Nezus of Roms told Reuters.

"I've been sending them letters since November of 2005, stating there's a
dividend. The labels don't respond."

* Questionable status *

Although, the prosecutors in the case are expected to make an appeal against
Mr Kvasov, the site looks set to relaunch.

  A statement on the site, dated 31 August, said: "The service will be
resumed in the foreseeable future. We are doing our best at the moment to
ensure that all our users can use their accounts, top up balance and order
music."

But Tim Smith legal expert at the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industries (IFPI) said "The failure of the court to convict
Denis Kvasov yet has no impact whatsoever on the legality of Allofmp3
itself.

"If it were to resume trading as it was before, it would be in clear
violation of copyright laws both within and outside Russia by reproducing
and making available music it has no right to sell."

Members of the IFPI are currently suing the site in both the UK and the US.

* Stark warning *

Allofmp3.com was closed in early July ahead of a summit between the Russian
and American presidents.

The closure was the result of increasing pressure from both industry and
governments.

During talks on Russian membership of the World Trade Organisation in 2006,
Susan Schwab, the US Trade Representative, said that the site must be closed
before entry.

However, within days of the site being shut down MediaServices opened a new
service called mp3Sparks.com where allofmp3 credit could be used to purchase
music.

A warning on Mp3Sparks.com reads: "You should not download audio files from
Mp3Sparks.com if the terms are in conflict with the laws of your country of
residence.

"Mp3Sparks.com does not attempt to control the actions of its users, who
bear sole responsibility for any illegal use."

Allofmp3.com is not currently selling music.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6967172.stm

Published: 2007/08/28 16:49:02 GMT
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