MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - Leading Russian news agencies and media outlets have agreed on proposals for a draft law on granting news reports the legal status of goods and imposing fines for illegal publishing of copyrighted material.
The Mass Communication Council at the Russian Communications Ministry met on Wednesday to discuss measures to protect intellectual property. RIA Novosti, Interfax, the Kommersant publishing house, Vedomosti and Gazeta.ru took part.
“The main goal of the proposed amendments to a number of laws is to turn news into goods which must be paid for,” RIA Novosti Editor-in-Chief Svetlana Mironyuk said.
She said websites that are not registered media outlets are actively taking news content from professional sources, in violation of copyright laws.
“Firstly, this is unscrupulous competition, and secondly, it steals readers from professional media and consequently cuts profits from advertising posted on their websites,” Mironyuk said.
Mikhail Mikhailin, editor-in-chief of Gazeta.ru, said it was necessary to “set the rules of the game” on the online media market.
The initiators of the draft suggested that offenders attempting to publish copyright material without citing the copyright holder pay fines ranging from 2,000 rubles ($65) to 20,000 rubles ($647), depending on whether they are individuals or legal entities.
Alexander Zharov, a deputy communications minister, called for prosecution of plagiarists.
“Copyright holders should be protected,” he said, pledging to promote the draft law as soon as all online media representatives take a consolidated stand on the issue.
Leading Russian media propose draft law to fight content stealing
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Leading Russian news agencies and media outlets have agreed on proposals for a draft law on granting news reports the legal status of goods and imposing fines for illegal publishing of copyrighted material
