Copyright of foreigners in Russia

The protection of foreigners' copyrights under Russian law will depend on when and where the work was first published, as well as on the time when the citizen's rights arose. This is due to the moment of accession to the Universal Copyright Convention, which took place in 1973. In this article we will consider how the results of creative work are protected if the right holder is a foreign author.

Procedure for the emergence of rights

In 1973 the USSR acceded to the Universal Copyright Convention - this document was adopted in 1952 and is gradually being ratified by the participating states. In addition, on the territory of Russia copyright is subject to protection in accordance with the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Proceeding from the provisions of national and international acts, the emergence of copyrights of foreign nationals is possible in the following ways

• works are recognized as protected in Russia, if they were published after 1973 in the territory of any signatory state - in this case the author has the full set of rights, including the right to dispose of and receive remuneration;
• a work is recognized as unprotected in Russia if it was first published before 1973, in which case authorship is recognized, but the right to demand payment of remuneration is absent (unless otherwise specified in international treaties with Russian participation);
• as for newly-created works, the author is determined according to the laws of the country in whose territory the legal fact of rights emerged.

If the work of a foreign citizen is published in Russia within 30 days from the date of first publication abroad, it is recognized as officially published in the Russian Federation. It means that the foreign author acquires the full set of rights in our country including the right to dispose of the results of creative work and get the author's remuneration.

What is included in the rights

If a work is recognized as protected in the territory of the Russian Federation, the legal status of a foreign author does not differ from that of residents. A foreign national will be able to exercise his or her rights in the following ways:

• seek recognition or file a challenge to the right if another person claims authorship;
• transfer the rights to the work to others - permanently or temporarily, for remuneration or without royalties;
• seek protection against any use of the work without the author's permission, including recourse to the courts for damages or compensation;
• to demand the termination of copyright violations, as well as the seizure of copies issued without permission of the author.

Registration of copyright in the Russian Federation is not provided by law, so a foreign citizen will have to use other options to confirm authorship. For this purpose copyright signs may be used when publishing a work (C sign, information about the author, the year of the first edition), the procedure of depositing a copy, notarial confirmation of the date of creation of a book or other result of creative work.