INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Ukraine: Ipr Enforcement Cooperation Group

Published: Fri 25 Apr 2008 07:49 AM
VZCZCXRO8180
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHKV #0821/01 1160749
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250749Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5438
INFO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA 0031
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KYIV 000821
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
///////////////////////////////////////////// ////////
C O R R E C T E D COPY - SUBJECT LINE CHANGED
///////////////////////////////////////////// ///////
STATE FOR EUR/UMB AND EB/TPP/IPE
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR BURKHEAD/GROVES
USDOC FOR 4201/DOC/ITA/MAC/BISNIS
USDOC FOR 4231/ITA/OEENIS/NISD/CLUCYCK
SOFIA FOR MLAMBERTI
E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A
TAGS: ETRD KIPR ECON UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: IPR ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION GROUP
DISCUSSES COPYRIGHT ISSUES
REFS: A) KYIV 528
B) KYIV 503
C) 2007 KYIV 2865 and previous
D) 2007 KYIV 1888
E) 2007 KYIV 1205
KYIV 00000821 001.2 OF 003
1. Summary: GOU, Embassy and industry representatives
discussed copyright issues and GOU inter-agency cooperation
at an April 23 Enforcement Cooperation Group (ECG) meeting.
The GOU officials present agreed to push for a Cabinet of
Ministers Resolution to raise the stature of the
government's IPR Coordination Council and to improve inter-
agency cooperation. Industry reps supported the initiative
and asked to be included in future Coordination Council
meetings. Reps from the recording, film, and software
industries raised problems of concern to them and proposed
steps for the GOU to improve enforcement. Deputy Econ
Counselor highlighted copyright-related issues of
particular USG concern, and urged the GOU to develop an
Action Plan to address outstanding problems. End Summary.
2. On April 23 Ukraine's State Department of Intellectual
Property (SDIP) hosted the seventh meeting of the IPR
Enforcement Cooperation Group (ECG), with participation of
numerous industry representatives. (Note: See Ref C for
previous ECG meetings. End Note.) The ECG meeting was
held in conjunction with a meeting of the GOU's inter-
agency IPR Coordination Council and focused primarily on
copyright issues. (Note: Appropriately enough, April 23
happened to be the UN's World Book and Copyright Day. End
note.)
3. The following is a list of key participants:
GOU
---
Valentin Chebotaryov - Deputy Chairman, SDIP
Sergiy Nikulesko - Head of IP Inspectors, SDIP
Serhiy Lebid - Deputy Head of Economic Crimes
Department, Ministry of Internal
Affairs
Oleksandr Pashynnyi - Head of Trade Policy Department,
State Customs Service
Vadim Vnukov - Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
Oleksiy Tymchenko - State Tax Administration
Olena Pavlenko - Kyiv City Administration
Industry
--------
Ignat Berezhny - Ukrainian Association of the Music
Industry (IFPI affiliate)
Vladislav Shapoval - LEXFOR Legal Services
(representing the Business
Software Alliance - BSA)
Daniil Klyuchnikov - Microsoft Ukraine
Vladimir Iling - Ukrainian Anti-Piracy Association
(representing the Motion Picture
Association - MPA)
------------------------
Inter-Agency Cooperation
------------------------
4. Chebotaryov and other GOU officials focused throughout
the meeting on the need to improve inter-agency cooperation
in the area of IPR enforcement. Chebotaryov criticized the
GOU Coordination Council as being less than fully
effective. To remedy the situation, Chebotaryov proposed
that the group push for a Cabinet of Ministers Resolution
to raise the profile of the body and require that it be
chaired by a Deputy Prime Minister. Such a revamped
Coordination Council would have the necessary clout to
bolster IPR enforcement efforts, he said. (Note: SDIP
unsuccessfully pushed for a similar resolution in 2007.
End note.) Chebotaryov noted that SDIP had already drafted
the relevant decree but that the Ministry of Justice was
resisting.
5. Representatives of the various government agencies in
attendance agreed on the need to push the issue to the
level of the Cabinet of Ministers. Lebid argued that
representatives of the judiciary and the Prosecutor
General's Office should also be included in Coordination
KYIV 00000821 002.2 OF 003
Council meetings, since they play a critical role in
enforcement. Vnukov suggested that interested parties
approach the President's Office should they face resistance
within the Cabinet. Chebotaryov added that local officials
should also be more involved in such IPR coordination
meetings, and asked Pavlenko to pass this request to the
appropriate authorities within the Kyiv City
Administration.
6. Iling and Berezhny promised to lend their support to
SDIP's proposal to increase the stature of the Coordination
Council and requested that industry representatives be
included in future meetings of the body. Chebotaryov,
while not rejecting the idea out of hand, said he was
afraid to open the meetings completely. Too many industry
participants could make Coordination Council meetings
unwieldy and ineffective, he said, and if they opened the
meeting to any industry reps, they would have to open it to
all. Berezhny responded by encouraging Chebotaryov to find
some alternative mechanism to include industry in the
coordination process.
----------------------------
Problematic Copyright Issues
----------------------------
7. Deputy Econ Counselor praised the GOU for its recent
accomplishments on IPR enforcement and called for continued
progress on copyright-related areas of particular USG
concern: rampant software piracy and continued government
use of unlicensed software (ref E); open-air markets in
large cities (ref D); internet piracy (ref D); public
performance piracy and problems of collective management
(ref A); and the CD/DVD hologram sticker program (ref B).
Software
--------
8. Chebotaryov recognized that the government's use of
unlicensed software set a bad example for society and
promised that SDIP was "seriously working" with the
government to rectify the problem. The main obstacle was
securing the necessary budget funding, which meant
substantial progress was possible only over several years
time, he said. Shapoval called for changes to the Criminal
Code to criminalize the use, not just buying and selling,
of pirated software. Shapoval also complained that the GOU
had failed to bring a single court case against the head of
a company using pirated software. Klyuchnikov briefed on
Microsoft's and BSA's ongoing IPR outreach campaign in the
regions, and asked for GOU support in getting better
participation from local government officials.
Recording/Film Industry Issues
------------------------------
9. Chebotaryov also briefed on steps to improve collective
management and the hologram sticker program, as agreed with
industry at a recent meeting hosted by the European
Commission (refs A-B). Berezhny encouraged the GOU to step
up enforcement efforts to reduce physical piracy at
markets. He also argued that amendments to the Criminal
Code were needed to clarify that internet piracy be treated
as severely as more traditional forms of piracy, and to
reduce some of the evidentiary burden on rights holders and
law enforcement when bringing IPR cases to court. Iling
urged the GOU to stop pirates from video recording movies
in Ukrainian cinemas. He also highlighted internet piracy
as a major concern for the film industry, which he said
could provide some technical assistance to GOU
investigators on the subject.
-----------
Action Plan
-----------
10. Deputy Econ Counselor encouraged the GOU to develop an
Action Plan in order to tackle outstanding IPR problems and
said the USG would be anxious to discuss the details of a
plan at the appropriate time. Chebotaryov noted that, if
they succeeded in raising the level of the IPR Coordination
Council, the revamped body would likely want to develop a
joint Action Plan as one of its first tasks.
KYIV 00000821 003.2 OF 003
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