Ukrainian parliament passes bill to deal with piracy issues

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has passed at first reading government’s bill No. 4571 amending Article 5 of the law on distribution of samples of audiovisual pieces, phonograms, videograms, software and databases, which transfer control over the issue of license keys and labels to owners of these products.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mykhailo Titarchuk said, when presenting the bill, cases have recently recorded when fraudsters illegally receive license keys using fictitious license agreements, and therefore “we offer a simple mechanism to counteract these phenomena.” According to him, the bill clarifies the procedure for applications for obtaining license keys and labels and introduces a rule under which owners can control the issue of these keys and labels and timely counteract the illegal use of these protective elements.

The bill provides that within three working days after the issue of license keys and labels, the Ministry of Economic Development will publish a list of designations for which the license keys and labels have been issued, data on the applicant for which a decision has been made to issue license keys and labels, the issuance date and the quantity of issued license keys and labels on its official website. “The bill is aimed at creating an additional mechanism to combat piracy and violating the rights of copyright items,” Titarchuk said.

According to him, the adoption of this bill will improve the investment climate in Ukraine and create more favorable conditions for doing business.