Становление института авторского права в России.

EVOLUTION OF COPYRIGHT IN RUSSIA

Copyrightthe idea that an author of a work has rights on the uses and the reproduction of the workoriginated in the field of literature. With the inventions of the printing press and ofmovable type, copies of literary works could be made quicker and cheaper than before, and the works could be disseminated more widely. Copyright in Russia developed originally along the same lines as in Western European countries. A first copyright statute dated back to 1828, and in 1857, a general copyright term of fifty years was instituted. The copyright law of 1911 was inspired by Western laws of the continental European tradition. Under the Soviet regime, the copyright law was changed to conform more to Socialist ideology and economics. The Copyright law of the Russian Federation became effective on August 3, 1993. It completely replaced the older Soviet legislation that had been in effect until then. The new Copyright law of 1993 was based upon WIPO model laws and followed the continental European tradition. Since its foundation as an independent successor state of the former Soviet Union, the Russian Federation had been engaged in a large legislative project of developing a new Civil Code.As a result, Part IV of the Civil Code has become a comprehensive intellectual property legislation. Among the novelties introduced by this new legislation in the area of copyrights were a publication right, and the definition of two kinds of contracts: one for copyright transfers, and licenses for grantingusage rights.