Russian OTT services and TV channels are opposed a plan by the country’s Duma (Parliament) to use the content of foreign copyright holders without their permission. Is an opposition to legalising piracy in Russia.

According to Kommersant, there is a preference for granting access to such content only to legal sites that had prior access before the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine.

Media Communication Union in Russia

Kommersant cites a letter from the Media Communications Union, which includes major industry players such as Channel One, Rostelecom, MTS, Tricolor, VGRTK, and Gazprom-Media. The letter argues that the plan violates the interests of specialized market participants and may result in the cessation of their operations.

“It also poses the risk of utilizing this mechanism to legitimize and promote pirated resources, which would have a negative impact on domestic producers and owners of exclusive content rights.”

As previously reported by Broadband TV News, Russia’s Ministry of Digital Transformation is contemplating the unblocking of websites that feature unlicensed video content from Western companies that are no longer officially present in the country.

The sanction from 2022

In response to Western nations’ sanctions imposed due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, a recent proposal by Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development aims to mitigate the impact of these sanctions on the country’s economy. TorrentFreak reported on this proposal earlier this week, which includes measures relevant to the industry.

One such measure, outlined in item 6.7.3 of the document, addresses the challenges caused by international companies that have revoked or denied software licenses to Russian users. While using unlicensed software has been illegal in Russia, the proposal suggests making it a non-punishable offense during the period of sanctions.

The idea is that while sanctions are in effect, individuals who engage in software piracy for which there is no Russian alternative would not face civil or criminal cases.

Likewise, item 6.7.1 of the proposal reportedly suggests that Russia should eliminate any liability for intellectual property offenses related to “rights to an invention, utility model, industrial design in relation to computer programs, databases, topologies of integrated circuits.”