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Competitions for accreditation of collective management organizations should take place only after the relevant law is signed

31/ 01/ 2022
  On January 13 and 17, 2022, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced on its website the start of competitions to determine the accredited Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) in the field of reprographic reproduction and private copying. The European Business Association sees certain problems with the decision of the Ministry of Economy to start competitions for accreditation. First, it is not fully legal. On December 15 last year, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading Draft Law №5572 on Amendments to the Copyright Law, which is currently awaiting signing by the President of Ukraine. The EBA supported the adoption of this draft law and at one time sent a letter to the President of Ukraine asking to help speed up its signing. Draft Law №5572 terminates the powers of the CMO Accreditation Commission prematurely. Thus, it stipulates the need to approve the new composition of the Accreditation Commission and announce competitions within two months after draft law enters into force. And the document has not been signed yet. Secondly, the announced competition is conducted by the old accreditation commission. Representatives of manufacturers and importers of equipment for reprographic reproduction (printers, faxes, paper) or private copying (mobile phones, TVs, flash drives, disks) have repeatedly and successfully protested the actions of this accreditation commission in courts previously. Thus, its quality of work is under question. Besides, the equipment manufacturers and importers are not represented in this accreditation commission. Therefore, there is no way they can guarantee that the competition itself will be transparent, impartial, and legal. Third, there are still unresolved issues regarding the reform of the fee for private copying and reprographic reproduction. Thus, at the legislative level, there is still no provision for the creation of an effective and transparent mechanism for the distribution of remuneration among right holders by CMOs. Also, the size of economically justified tariffs and the list of equipment subjected to tariffs remain undetermined. Last year, the EBA member companies faced a situation when accredited CMOs demanded a significant increase in tariffs imposed on equipment, for example, almost 5% from printers and 2% from paper. As for the list of equipment, the CMOs proposed to include the equipment with which it is technically impossible to make private copying, such as TVs with DRM protection against unauthorized copying. Therefore, business is greatly concerned that last years situation may be repeated in full, especially without the involvement of business representatives in all processes, including the selection and accreditation of the CMOs, with which they will need to work in the future. Therefore, the European Business Association urges the Ministry of Economy to withdraw the call for new competitions. And when draft law №5572 is signed by the President of Ukraine, it is necessary to unblock the copyright reform in Ukraine and elect a new composition of the accreditation commission, including the equipment manufacturers and importers, and only then hold competitions for accreditation of the CMOs. The reform should not be just written on paper. Business expects the introduction of a fair and transparent fee collection system and a mechanism for distributing remuneration among authors, which will not financially affect consumers and white companies who pay all necessary taxes and fees.   Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel – EBAUkraine.

On January 13 and 17, 2022, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced on its website the start of competitions to determine the accredited Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) in the field of reprographic reproduction and private copying.

The European Business Association sees certain problems with the decision of the Ministry of Economy to start competitions for accreditation.

First, it is not fully legal. On December 15 last year, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading Draft Law №5572 on Amendments to the Copyright Law, which is currently awaiting signing by the President of Ukraine. The EBA supported the adoption of this draft law and at one time sent a letter to the President of Ukraine asking to help speed up its signing.

Draft Law №5572 terminates the powers of the CMO Accreditation Commission prematurely. Thus, it stipulates the need to approve the new composition of the Accreditation Commission and announce competitions within two months after draft law enters into force. And the document has not been signed yet.

Secondly, the announced competition is conducted by the old accreditation commission. Representatives of manufacturers and importers of equipment for reprographic reproduction (printers, faxes, paper) or private copying (mobile phones, TVs, flash drives, disks) have repeatedly and successfully protested the actions of this accreditation commission in courts previously. Thus, its quality of work is under question. Besides, the equipment manufacturers and importers are not represented in this accreditation commission. Therefore, there is no way they can guarantee that the competition itself will be transparent, impartial, and legal.

Third, there are still unresolved issues regarding the reform of the fee for private copying and reprographic reproduction. Thus, at the legislative level, there is still no provision for the creation of an effective and transparent mechanism for the distribution of remuneration among right holders by CMOs. Also, the size of economically justified tariffs and the list of equipment subjected to tariffs remain undetermined.

Last year, the EBA member companies faced a situation when accredited CMOs demanded a significant increase in tariffs imposed on equipment, for example, almost 5% from printers and 2% from paper. As for the list of equipment, the CMOs proposed to include the equipment with which it is technically impossible to make private copying, such as TVs with DRM protection against unauthorized copying.

Therefore, business is greatly concerned that last year’s situation may be repeated in full, especially without the involvement of business representatives in all processes, including the selection and accreditation of the CMOs, with which they will need to work in the future.

Therefore, the European Business Association urges the Ministry of Economy to withdraw the call for new competitions. And when draft law №5572 is signed by the President of Ukraine, it is necessary to unblock the copyright reform in Ukraine and elect a new composition of the accreditation commission, including the equipment manufacturers and importers, and only then hold competitions for accreditation of the CMOs. The reform should not be just written on paper. Business expects the introduction of a fair and transparent fee collection system and a mechanism for distributing remuneration among authors, which will not financially affect consumers and “white companies” who pay all necessary taxes and fees.

 

Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel EBAUkraine.

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