Russia’s New Anti-Piracy Law Goes Into Effect August 1, 2013

Following years of pressure from the United States and entertainment companies, Russia has recently passed new legislation aimed at cracking down on Internet-based copyright infringement. The new anti-piracy law, which goes into effect August 1, 2013, allows copyright holders to block websites that offer allegedly infringing content before the actual infringement is adjudicated in court. The law applies to video content only (i.e., movies and television series).

According to the new law, when a copyright holder identifies pirated video content on the Internet, he can apply to the Moscow City Court for an injunction against the website owner. All court injunctions will be published on the official website of the Moscow City Court. To further sustain his actions, the copyright holder has to file a lawsuit within 15 days from the date of the court injunction. Otherwise, the copyright holder’s complaint will be annulled.

The responsibility to execute the court injunction lies with the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, which is to identify the Internet hosting service provider for the pirated content and officially notify him — in both Russian and English — within three working days. Upon receipt of the notification, the Internet hosting service provider has only one day to contact the owner of the pirated content with a request to remove the content or to limit access to the content. If the website owner does not remove the content within one day of the notification, the Internet hosting service provider has to block access to the content.

The full text of the law in Russian is available on the Russian Duma’s website.

Arent Fox regularly advises clients on the developments of US and foreign intellectual property (IP) laws and provides counsel on strategies to ensure that the clients receive effective and timely protection of their IP assets, including patents, trademarks, domain names and copyrights.

If you have any questions about issues raised in the article, please contact Michael Fainberg.