Article: Recommendations on the implementation of copyright and related rights
Recommendations on the implementation of copyright and related rights
Nurzhan Stamkulov, partner of Synergy Partners Law Firm
- Ignoring the copyright while playing musical works may entail heavy fines and compensations
If a restaurant uses music in the restaurant, then such use will be commercial. According to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, reproduction of the author's objects without his consent entails payment of a fee. Compensation for the use of copyright and related rights may be established by a license agreement, but rates should not be lower than the amounts approved by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Therefore, if it turns out that the restaurant used music without a license permit, then it is threatened with big lawsuits and, as a consequence, court decisions in favor of the author or the authors protection society.
At the same time, authors and rights holders or societies protecting the rights of authors need to prove the fact of publicity of reproduction, and this, in practice, is made easily.
- Identify what objects of copyright or related rights are used in business
If a company uses photos for their website, they should be used with the consent of the author of such photos or the copyright holder. It is very important to conduct a diagnosis of the rights that are being used. Copyright objects are not limited by some type of a list. The most popular objects of copyright and related rights are musical works, song lyrics or melodies, films, TV shows, different video works, then schemes, sounds, printed texts, drawings, sketches, paintings, plans, or photos.
- Conclude a license agreement in advance if you use copyright objects in business or for commercial purposes
To conclude a license agreement you need:
- To find out if your counterparty has the rights and authority to grant you permission to use copyright or related rights objects;
- To ensure that the license agreement covers all the risks for all the copyright and related rights objects;
Copyright and related rights laws, due to being very specific, require closer attention than it may seem at the first glance. Ignoring this branch of the law can entail serious financial costs.