The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
92
The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
92-97
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue05-15
I
MPACT
F
ACTOR
2021:
5.
952
‘
ABSTRACT
Issues of copyright and related rights infringement as well as liability are analyzed in this article in the
framework of modern world and Uzbekistan in particular.
KEYWORDS
Copyright, related rights, administrative liability, criminal liability, counterfeiting, copyright
infringement.
INTRODUCTION
Legal protection to intellectual property
objects, care and protection of the rights of the
rights holders plays an important role in
innovation and economic development of any
country. Violation of copyright and related
rights is primarily assessed as a civil offense, in
which civil law methods of protection are used.
Copyright and related rights in Uzbekistan are
now regulated by Laws “On Copyright and
Related Rights” (July 20, 2006, No. ZRU-42)
and “On legal protection of computer
programs and databases” (1994 May 6, No.
1060-XII).
Copyright offenses and their classification: national and
international experience
Kobilov Pulat Fakhritdin Oglu
Techer At Specialized Branch Of Tashkent State University Of Law, Uzbekistan
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
93
The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
92-97
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue05-15
I
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F
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2021:
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Violation of copyright and related rights is
stated in Article 62 of the Law On Copyright
and Related Rights according to which:
Violation of personal non-property rights
of authors;
Violation of executor’s rights to protect his
name
and
prevent
from
different
performance or any other infringement;
Repetition, distribution or other use (with
exceptions) of copyright or related rights
object without contract with owner of the
right;
Violation of payment requirements in cases
provided by this Law;
Excessive use of copyright or related rights
object received under a contract with the
owner;
Other infringement forms of copyright and
related rights shall be considered as
violation.
Copies of copyright or related rights objects
that are reproduced or distributed in violation
of copyright and related rights are considered
counterfeit copies. According to the Law on
Copyright and Related Rights, import of
copyright or related rights objects is also
considered counterfeit if it comes from a
country, law of which suspended protection of
such rights or no protection imposed [1] .
In turn, according to the Law "On legal
protection of computer programs and
databases", the author of the computer
program or database and other rights holders
are empowered to:
Recognition of their rights;
Require restoration of conditions existed
before the violation and termination of
actions that violate or threaten to violate
the law;
Damage compensation, including the
amount of income illegally received by
offender;
Compensation in the amount from twenty
to one thousand times of the basic
calculation amount, determined by the
relevant court decision, instead of
compensation for the damage caused by
benefited offender;
Demand other measures related to the
protection of their rights to be taken in
accordance with the legislation.
The author of a computer program or database
and other right holders may apply to the
appropriate court to have their rights
protected. The court may order confiscation
and destruction of copies of software or
databases created in violation of copyright.
Materials and equipment used to obtain such
copies may be transferred to the budget by a
court decision or, at the request of the plaintiff,
at the expense of compensation[2] .
The fact that a defined amount of
compensation to be imposed by a court is not
indicated in the Law on Copyright and Related
Rights Law at present makes in many cases
courts reject authors’ sues aimed at the
recovery of lost profits.
According to the statistics, in 2014-2018, the
number of criminal cases under Article 149 of
the Criminal Code of the Republic of
Uzbekistan amounted to 26, of which 20 were
convicted and 6 cases were terminated.
It should be noted that the majority of appeals
to the Intellectual Property Agency from
authors or right holders are related to the
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
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The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
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2693-0803)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
92-97
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue05-15
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2021:
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952
payment of their royalties. These types of
appeals can be directly divided into the
following 2 types.
1.
Non-timely payment of royalties assigned
to author(s) by customers;
2.
Copyright fees payable to authors Payment
of royalties at a lower interest rate than the
minimum rates approved by the Decree of
the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan No. PP-3201 dated August 14,
2017.
Meanwhile, Intellectual Property Agency is
given the following powers according to the
Presidential Decree No. PP-4380 dated July, 1,
2019 “On measures of creating Intellectual
Property Agency under the Ministry of Justice
of the Republic of Uzbekistan”:
Conducting research on compliance with
the requirements of the intellectual
property legislation in the activities of
government
agencies,
enterprises,
institutions and other organizations;
make mandatory submissions to the heads
of government agencies, enterprises,
institutions and other organizations on the
elimination of identified violations, causes
and conditions that allow them;
written warning of officials to prevent
violations of the legislation in the field of
intellectual property;
imposing administrative penalties against
officials for violation in the field of
intellectual property law by state bodies,
enterprises, institutions and others.
In particular, the Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan No. ZRU-534 of May 2, 2019
introduced
measures
of
liability
for
infringement of copyright and related rights
into the Code of Administrative Liability for the
first time [3] .
According to the amendments, unlawful use of
copyright or related rights, as well as
duplication, distribution, dissemination of
counterfeit copies of works or related rights, or
copies of works or related rights, their
manufacturers, places of production, as well as
copyright misrepresentation of the owners of
rights and related rights, confiscation of
counterfeit copies of works and objects of
related rights, as well as materials and
equipment used for their reproduction and
distribution, and other offenses, from one to
five times the minimum wage for citizens and
officials; - a fine of five to ten times.
If similar offenses are committed within one
year after the imposition of an administrative
penalty, the citizens shall be deprived of five
times the minimum wage by confiscating
counterfeit copies of works and objects of
related rights, as well as materials and
equipment used for their reproduction and
distribution and other offenses. up to ten
times, and officials - from ten to twenty times.
Currently, our country is moving forward to
becoming a member of the World Trade
Organization. One of the first requirements for
membership in this international organization
is accession of IPA to the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS). One of the main requirements of this
agreement is that the legislation strengthens
the measures of administrative and criminal
liability for violations in the field of intellectual
property [4] . In addition, the 301st Special
Report , traditionally published annually by the
US Department of Commerce characterized
Uzbekistan's
inadequate
protection
of
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The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
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2693-0803)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
92-97
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue05-15
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intellectual property, particularly copyright
and related rights.[5] .
According to the above, today Uzbekistan has
two important tasks:
First, to strengthen the responsibility for
illegal use of intellectual property;
Second, to bring national legislation on the
protection of intellectual property in line
with international rules and regulations.
Experience and practice of Switzerland, the
Netherlands, Sweden, the Kingdom of
Denmark, the People's Republic of China,
Estonia, the Russian Federation, the Republic
of Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan in studying
the definition of copyright and related rights in
administrative liability legislation is also
studied.
According to the researchers, in world practice,
the damage caused by the circulation of illegal
intellectual property is divided into the
following types:
Negative impact on the external image of
the
country
and
deterioration
of
investment climate;
Damage to the products of copyright
holders;
Damage to the economy as a result of non-
receipt of taxes and other payments to the
budget and extra-budgetary funds of the
state;
A source of funding for organized crime [6]
.
Establishing liability helps to strengthen the
protection of exclusive rights of intellectual
property owners, to prevent and control
circulation of counterfeit products, to
harmonize the rules and regulations in the field
of intellectual property with international
regulations and plays an important motivating
role in the development of fair competition in
science, literature and art.
In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,
if the copyright infringement causes significant
damage to the author or other right holder is
punished by a fine of up to two hundred
thousand rubles (more than 27 million soums),
or 18 months of withholding from the
defendant's monthly salary, or other income,
or up to 480 hours of forced labor, or
imprisonment for up to six months.
If the above illegal actions were committed by
a group of individuals or an organized group, or
in a very large amount, or using their official
position, up to five years of forced labor, up to
six years of imprisonment and a fine of up to
five hundred thousand rubles or up to three
years' salary or a penalty is imposed in
conjunction with or without addition of the
defendant's other income. Under Russian law,
a large amount of damage caused by the use of
copies of phonograms or works or objects of
copyright and related rights is estimated at up
to one hundred thousand rubles, and a very
large amount - up to one million rubles (more
than 138 million soums) .[7] .
The Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus
also imposes a penalty of coercion or
copyright, community service, a fine or up to
two years of correctional labor. Illegal use or
distribution of copyright and related rights
shall be punishable by a fine of up to three
years 'imprisonment or up to two years'
imprisonment if the same act is committed
again within one year after the imposition of an
administrative penalty or a large amount of
income is obtained as a result of that act.
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
96
The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
92-97
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue05-15
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2021:
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In the Republic of Belarus, as well as in the
legislation of the Russian Federation, these
illegal acts are punishable by a fine or
imprisonment for a term of up to five years,
restriction of freedom or imprisonment if
committed by a group of individuals or an
organized group or by using their official
position.[8] .
Georgia's criminal law provides a fine or up to
two years' imprisonment for embezzlement or
forcible co-authorship. Repeated commission
of this act is punishable by up to 3 years of
imprisonment or up to 3 years of
imprisonment.[9] .
The experience of these countries in
establishing
liability
for
copyright
infringement, as well as prevalence of
copyright
infringement
through
telecommunications network today, require
reconsideration of the norms of our current
criminal law and its harmonization with
international experience. In particular, it is
necessary to include separate articles in the
Criminal Code for violation of copyright and
related rights. At the same time, it is necessary
to increase the liability for infringement of
copyright and related rights.
For this purpose, application of criminal
sanctions is desirable in the Criminal Code for
illegal use of works or objects of related rights,
as well as reproduction, distribution, bringing
to the public awareness of counterfeit copies
of works or objects of related rights, or
indication of false information on copies of
works or objects of related rights about their
manufacturers, places of their production, as
well as copyright and related rights holders.
It should be noted that confiscation of
counterfeit copies of copyright and related
rights is set by Article 66 of the Law "On
Copyright and Related Rights" and Article 16 of
the Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works.
Based on the above, it is necessary to develop
a well-thought-out and robust public policy to
ensure the protection of copyright and related
rights. At the same time, law enforcement
agencies are also unable to take action to
eliminate all counterfeit products on the
market. Another major reason for this is the
lack of staff in the judiciary, the prosecutor's
office and other competent bodies.
Ensuring copyright protection is one of the
most actual and important issues for many
countries around the world today. In this
context, establishing liability for violation of
copyright and related rights is of special
importance in strengthening guarantees of
rights and legal interests of the copyright
owners in the society.
REFERENCES
1.
Collection of Legislation of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, 2006, No. 28-29, Article 260;
2011, No. 51, Article 542; 2013, No. 1, Article
1, No. 41, Article 543.
2.
Bulletin of the Supreme Council of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, 1994, No. 5,
Article 136.
3.
National
Database
of
Legislation,
03.05.2019, No. 03/19/534/3046.
4.
www.wipo.int/wipolex/ru/treaties/text.js
p?file_id=379915
5.
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2019_S
pecial_301_Report.pdf
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
97
The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
92-97
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue05-15
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2021:
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6.
Ю.В.Толчёнова.
Уголовная
ответственность
за
нарушение
авторских и смежных прав. Дисс. на
соискание учёной степени кан.юрид.
наук. Москва-2010 г
7.
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
13.06.1996 N 63-FZ (ed. Dated 17.06.2019)
8.
http://pravo.by/document/?guid=3871&p0
=hk9900275
9.
http://www.matsne.gov.ge
