On 02.10.2023, amendments to the advertising legislation, developed with the participation of the practice’s attorneys, came into force anti-piracy Smartsolutions as part of Іnitiative «Clear sky».
Amendments aimed at qualitatively strengthening the fight against content piracy on the Internet were introduced by the Law of Ukraine No. 3136-IX dated 30.05.2023 «On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” and Other Laws of Ukraine implementation of European legislation into the national legislation of Ukraine through the implementation of certain provisions of the European Union legislation in the field of audiovisual advertising (European Convention on Transfrontier Television, Directive of the European Parliament and Council 2010/13/EС on Audiovisual Media Services of 10 March 2010, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of 14 November 2018)” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 3136).
The innovations include the introduction of sanctions (fines) for advertising on websites that are included in the WIPO ALERT global list (blacklist) as systematically infringing copyright and related rights.
In the language of Law No. 3136, it is prohibited to advertise on a website whose Internet address (domain name, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet protocol address) is included in the national list of websites of concern for intellectual property rights enforcement (hereinafter – the national list) according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
In the previous articles we provided a detailed analysis of these legislative changes.
As a reminder, as of the date of entry into force of Law No. 3136, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine the following websites were added to the WIPO ALERT list by an authorised participant of this platform (back in 2021) rezka.ag, ex-fs.net, seasonvar.ru, kinogo.zone.
Currently, the Smartsolutions team, together with a group of specialists from the Ministry of Economy, the Ukrainian National Agency for Intellectual Property Rights and interactive advertising industry experts, is working on the approval of a balanced “Procedure for the Formation and Maintenance of the National List of Websites Raising Concerns Concerning the Observance of Intellectual Property Rights”, which, on the one hand, should become an effective tool for combating piracy, and on the other hand, should minimise the abuse of the right to appeal.
As part of the Clear Sky Initiative, we will be actively working both on the National List of Websites Raising Intellectual Property Rights Concerns and on Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL), and we hope for an adequate response from gambling operators who are the main customers of advertising on pirate websites.
As a reminder, on 7 August 2023, in order to consolidate the gambling market and properly prepare for the practical implementation of legislative changes, the monitoring of which is entrusted to the CRS, a roundtable discussion was held at the SFS: «Practical implementation of legislative changes to advertising in the field of organising and conducting gambling» where Smartsolutions attorneys were among the speakers. You can read the speeches and view the materials of the event at the link.
If you need advice on the protection of your infringed intellectual property rights, Smartsolutions attorneys will provide you with professional assistance and assistance.
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