Intellectual Property Court Specialists recommend not punishing intermediaries for pirated content

The Scientific Advisory Board at the Court of Intellectual Rights has prepared a draft certificate , which judges will be able to follow when dealing with cases involving intellectual property. In particular, the certificate states that sites that only play the role of intermediaries in the transfer of illegal content should not be responsible for its placement on their resources, if it does not bring them any profit.

The certificate prepared by the NCC must be approved by the Presidium of the Court of Intellectual Property Rights, consisting of judges. The head of the legal department of the coordination center of the national Internet domain and a member of the NCC, Sergey Kopylov, explains the meaning of such references:

If the judges have a controversial issue, and a certificate is issued on this topic, they can be guided by it. The certificates are not binding, we do not have case law in the country. But they form a uniform judicial practice. To the judge once again not to wrestle with his head, but to use the already prepared certificate.

Article 1253.1 of the Civil Code of Russia defines the concept of an information intermediary - it is “a person who provides the opportunity to place material or information necessary to obtain it using the information and telecommunications network, a person who provides the opportunity to access material in this network.”

It turns out that intermediaries can be considered Internet providers, hosters, search engines and even sites with collections of torrents.
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The certificate contains three criteria by which, say, a website can be equated to an information mediator:

- the site should not receive a direct profit from a pirated file placed on it - that is, should not sell it or receive money for its use. Placement of advertisements is considered indirect earnings and does not constitute a violation.

- information on the site should be posted by the users themselves, and not by the administration of this resource.

- the administration of the resource must deal with the moderation of the content posted. But this is not necessary in the event that the court considers that the moderation in a particular case will be associated with excessive costs.

Since May 1 of this year , amendments came into force , according to which music, books and software (extended anti-piracy law) fall under the effect of Federal Law of July 2, 2013 No. 187-FZ. In addition, right holders will have the opportunity to block websites that violate the law repeatedly for life. It is enough that the same company won a court against the same resource twice, and the court can block the site forever.