Speaking in the wake of a landmark ruling by a U.S. court Monday, Karen Shakhnazarov, a popular film producer, said at a session of the Public Chamber's culture commission devoted to intellectual property rights and ways to deal with current problems in the area.
"Intellectual property rights are in complete mess in this country," Shakhnazarov, who co-chairs the commission, said. "And nobody seems to be willing to do something to amend the situation. Therefore, we are witnessing wild piracy. Is it normal when 85% of [video and audio] products are fake?"
Mosfilm and another leading studio, St. Petersburg-based Lenfilm, recently won an unprecedented suit against U.S. pirates, respected business daily Kommersant reported Tuesday. A New York court said the Dom Knigi bookstore, run by a U.S. firm, had violated the studios' copyright by selling unlicensed DVD and video versions of best-selling Russian movies.
The Russian filmmakers could receive $19mln in compensation. The court will rule later on damages.
Shakhnazarov said a lack of clear rules on a number of contentious issues was to blame for the chaos, which also influenced payment schemes for producers, scriptwriters, and composers. He urged tougher punishment for piracy and suggested that illegal producers should be jailed.
"Put at least five pirates in jail, and things will change," Shakhnazarov said, adding that licensed products accounted for only 10% of DVDs on the Russian market, with the remaining 90% being illegal.
Dmitry Lipskerov, a writer and a fellow commission member, echoed Shakhnazarov's concerns, saying the book industry was facing similar problems.
"Publishers do exactly the same, I assure you," Lipskerov said. "While in the Internet intellectual property rights are simply non-existent."
Mass violations of intellectual property rights have been a bitter point of contention in currently stalled bilateral World Trade Organization accession talks between Russia and the United States. The U.S. has repeatedly demanded more effective steps to curb piracy in Russia, which it said has caused millions of dollars in losses for American companies.
The culture commission of the Public Chamber, which acts as a bridge between the public and the authorities, on Tuesday resolved to draft proposals on the problem and submit them to the Culture Ministry and the State Duma, or lower house of parliament.
