CISAC and ICMP urge action from Ukraine government to tackle ‘‘crisis’’ in collective management

CISAC and ICMP, the world trade association representing the interests of the music publishing community internationally, have written to the Ukraine government voicing concerns over its failure to implement legislative reforms to tackle the ongoing crisis in collective management.

Last February, under the auspices of WIPO, a number of high-level meetings took place in Kiev at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, aimed at addressing Ukraine’s legislative needs in the field of collective management. Representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade held talks with representatives of key international organisations, which included representatives of CMOs in Ukraine and internationally, and the European Commission. Following the meetings, agreement was reached on a new Draft Law on a range of collective management reforms. The proposed law was drafted by WIPO expert Mihály Ficsor, and adopted international and EU best practices in collective management.

On 30 June 2017, in a letter addressed to First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv, it urges his ‘‘support’’ in prioritising the legislative process towards adoption of the Draft Law. ‘‘Over 4 months have passed since the constructive meetings in Kiev without any action. To the best of our knowledge, the final revision of the Law has not even been submitted to WIPO yet. This has delayed the whole process and has allowed the ongoing chaos in the collective management field to continue.’’

The letter says the crisis experienced in the collective management area in Ukraine has ‘‘severe local and international implications’’ and It is ‘‘hugely damaging’’ to the interests of local and foreign creators, as well as music publishers. The delay of the legislative reform also prevents the long-awaited transformation of the Ukrainian Agency of Copyright and Related Rights (UACRR) into a non-governmental organisation, managed by and accountable to authors, composers and music publishers, a move welcomed by CISAC and ICMP.

The letter asks for support in preserving and reforming UACRR in accordance with the requirements of the recently-adopted EU Directive on Collective Management. The government’s failure to correct the problem of ‘‘illegitimate collective management societies’’ within the country is also highlighted. ‘‘The continued operation in Ukraine of a large number of illegitimate societies that are not recognised by international rights holders, continues to inflict huge losses and perpetuates an unstable and undesirable situation.’’

For many years, music rights holders in Ukraine have been hindered by a confused and ineffective collective management system. There are some 19 CMOs operating in the sector – only two of them are affiliated to CISAC, UACRR for music and CINEMA for the audiovisual sector - and most users commonly refuse to pay due royalties. CISAC, alongside a coalition of other right holders, has been lobbying internationally and locally to improve this situation.