September 8, 2006 at 14:20Belarusian author society raids podcasts?
As you know, today all discos, night clubs, restaurants, cafeterias and even small pubs in Russia and Belarus are required to pay a standard fee if music is played in their premises. The amount of payment depends on the area of the room. For example, in Belarus, the minimum rate is about $ 15 per month (the smallest cafeteria with an area of less than 30 square meters pays so much). The Belarusian Authors Society (BELAT) is collecting money . They claim that almost 100% of Belarusian cafes and restaurants pay royalties for sounding music.
In Russia there is a similar organization Russian Authors Society (RAO). Russian tariffsmuch more diverse and depend not on the area, but on the number of seats. The smallest bar or night club with less than forty seats should pay 3000 rubles per month, and, for example, when performing an erotic show - an additional 1000 rubles per day. If the music does not sound on the radio, but live, then the amount of payment is still rising.
Frankly speaking, the stakes are not small. But the logic here is this: if you make money through music, then please share the profit with the authors of this music. After all, it is known that thanks to a pleasant melody, a good atmosphere is created in the same restaurant. Without music, the number of visitors will drop by an order.
Authoring organizations, such as RAO and BELAT, are actively trying to expand their powers to new territories, in particular, on the Internet. And in this regard, Belarus even got ahead of Russia. In the blue-eyed republic, a raid on Internet pirates will begin later this year.
According to the Interfax news agency , BelAT specialists are already studying the experience of copyright protection on the Internet in neighboring countries and plan to "conclude the necessary agreements this year and begin to protect the rights of performers and authors of musical works in Belarus." Speech about video materials, games or text works is not yet going.
At the moment, it is not clear which Internet companies may be targeted by BelAT. If you follow the logic of the activities of this organization, then they are primarily interested not in distributors of pirated MP3s, but in those organizations that play other people's music for their audience. In relation to the Internet - who can it be? In addition to podcasts, no one else comes to mind, because there are practically no Internet radio stations in Belarus.
The main problem of protecting the rights of the author on the Belarusian Internet, according to BELAT, is the fact that "legally the Internet space in Belarus does not exist", therefore, "it is extremely difficult to enforce virtual violators." On the other hand, it is quite easy to identify and prove the fact of violation, the same BELAT wins in court all cases of copyright protection. But how to charge, for example, from podcasts? By the number of listeners of their show? Or the duration of the podcast? Here, BelAT lawyers cannot yet say anything intelligible.
In Russia there is a similar organization Russian Authors Society (RAO). Russian tariffsmuch more diverse and depend not on the area, but on the number of seats. The smallest bar or night club with less than forty seats should pay 3000 rubles per month, and, for example, when performing an erotic show - an additional 1000 rubles per day. If the music does not sound on the radio, but live, then the amount of payment is still rising.
Frankly speaking, the stakes are not small. But the logic here is this: if you make money through music, then please share the profit with the authors of this music. After all, it is known that thanks to a pleasant melody, a good atmosphere is created in the same restaurant. Without music, the number of visitors will drop by an order.
Authoring organizations, such as RAO and BELAT, are actively trying to expand their powers to new territories, in particular, on the Internet. And in this regard, Belarus even got ahead of Russia. In the blue-eyed republic, a raid on Internet pirates will begin later this year.
According to the Interfax news agency , BelAT specialists are already studying the experience of copyright protection on the Internet in neighboring countries and plan to "conclude the necessary agreements this year and begin to protect the rights of performers and authors of musical works in Belarus." Speech about video materials, games or text works is not yet going.
At the moment, it is not clear which Internet companies may be targeted by BelAT. If you follow the logic of the activities of this organization, then they are primarily interested not in distributors of pirated MP3s, but in those organizations that play other people's music for their audience. In relation to the Internet - who can it be? In addition to podcasts, no one else comes to mind, because there are practically no Internet radio stations in Belarus.
The main problem of protecting the rights of the author on the Belarusian Internet, according to BELAT, is the fact that "legally the Internet space in Belarus does not exist", therefore, "it is extremely difficult to enforce virtual violators." On the other hand, it is quite easy to identify and prove the fact of violation, the same BELAT wins in court all cases of copyright protection. But how to charge, for example, from podcasts? By the number of listeners of their show? Or the duration of the podcast? Here, BelAT lawyers cannot yet say anything intelligible.