Updates to Russia's anti-piracy law expand the scope and reach

As of 1 May 2015 Russia has adapted its new "Anti-Piracy" laws in order to more effectively combat the scourge of online piracy.1
How it Works

The law was initially enacted in 2013, and provides the owners of intellectual property with a quick mechanism to take out an injunction against any online infringement. This injunction itself manifests as a block against any offending website that violates the Anti-Piracy legislation.

The owner of the intellectual property may also pursue an ex parte claim to the Moscow Court (as designated under the law), and is asked to show evidence of any infringement on the offending website. The court has one day to make its ruling; if it finds merit in the claim then a 15 day temporary block will be enacted against the offending website. The rights holder may then use these 15 days to file an infringement claim against the suspected offender. Any failure to file this second claim (in the 15 days given) will automatically result in the website block being lifted.

Expanded Scope

Prior to the new legislation the law was exclusively aimed at targeting video content, but has now incorporated a wide range of works including music, literature, games and software. There is, however, a notable exception in the new law - photography, which is still outside of the scope of the Anti-Piracy legislation.

Permanent Block

A permanent block is now a real possibility against any offending websites, and may well be ordered if the suspected offender continues to breach the new Anti-Piracy legislation. As the new rules are still in their infancy we simply cannot predict how this will be applied in practice, however there is a strong possibility that the new legislation may become a powerful legal tool against websites who continually breach copyright and intellectual property laws.

Encouragement to Settle

Under the new rules, where the operator of an offending website voluntarily removes infringing materials within 24 hours of receipt of a violation notice (likely a cease and desist letter), the operator can avoid liability for the infringement. This provision will hopefully provide an incentive (to suspected infringers) to remove the offending content, and will hopefully create a cheap and effective solution to combat online piracy.

Final detail

The above hopefully provides you with a general outline of how the new Anti-Piracy legislation will operate, however there are nuanced details subjective to every individual case.

1 - Federal Law No. 187-FZ of July 2, 2013, "On Amendment of Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Involving Intellectual Property Rights Protection in Information and Telecommunications Networks", and Federal Law No. 364-FZ of November 24, 2014, "On Amendment of the Federal Law on Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection and the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation".