A Note on the Protection of Intellectual Property on the Internet: A Russian Perspective
Igor Motsnyi · Review of Central and East European Law · 2004
Abstract The article deals with the fascinating and uneasy relationships between the Internet and intellectual property. The author intends to give a concise overview of this problem in light of Russian law and international legal standards. Some decisions of Russian courts will be examined. This problem is rather new for Russia; and the main difficulty is that neither judges nor other legal professionals have yet become used to working with IP on the Internet. This note will look into copyright in the Internet and analyze the controversy of domain names-trademarks. Special attention will be devoted to the issue of linking and technological measures for copyright protection. A draft law that aims to amend existing Russian copyright legislation will be analyzed. This draft, if adopted, will bring significant changes to the traditional copyright system of Russia. The author will argue that the approach used by the drafters is deficient and can, in fact, yield negative results for the parties concerned. The article compares the draft with the relevant provisions of US and the EU legislation and international treaties.