A song is not sung without the author

The Higher Court of Arbitration is to decide on the amount of compensation for undue use of a work that has several authors.

The Higher Court of Arbitration (HCA) is to decide on the amount of compensation for undue use of a work that has several authors. If the Court rules that the payments depend on the number of the co-authors, the Russian Society of Authors (RSA) will greatly increase its dues, which reached 4 billion roubles in 2013.

Denis Shumskiy, Head of the Intellectual Property Group of the Law Firm "YUST", says that, pursuant to the law, each co-author may take measures of protection of his rights on his own. Mr. Shumskiy is of the opinion: “This means that, should one author resort to courts, he doesn’t need the co-author’s consent. But this does not mean that each co-author may exact compensation for himself”. The Civil Code stipulates that compensation is exacted for each case of undue use of an intellectual property result. D.Shumskiy concludes: “Therefore, if there is one fact of undue use, then compensation may only be exacted once, no matter the number of the copyright holders”.

See the full version of the article at the "Kommersant" website.