Rightholders societies from China, Turkey, Moldova and Mongolia joined CRSEA

The confederation was joined by ILESAM, a Turkish organisation of creators of artworks, and the Moldovan National Assembly for the Protection of Intellectual Property. In addition, CRSEA members approved the joining of the Turkish MESAM, the Mongolian MOSCAP and the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS). Thus, in addition to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, the CRSEA representation now extends to China, Moldova, Mongolia and Turkey. These and other results of operation of the Confederation of Rightholders’ Societies of Europe and Asia (CRSEA) were summed up at the annual General Assembly on the margins of the International Strategic Intellectual Property Forum – IPQuorum 2019.

At the meeting, decisions were made on the organisational structure of CRSEA. Thus, by a unanimous decision of the General Assembly, the powers of Andrey Krichevskiy, the General Secretary of CRSEA, were extended by three years. Also, the candidacy of Ismail Mammadkarimov for the position of the organisation’s General Director was approved for the coming year. Balnur Kydyrbek, the recently elected Chairperson of the Kazakhstan Authors’ Society, was unanimously accepted into the Presidium of CRSEA.

Andrey Krichevskiy, the General Secretary of CRSEA, summed up the results of the organisation’s activities during the year. Thus, CRSEA was accepted as one of observer organisations of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – the largest and most influential international organisation in the field of protection and use of results of intellectual activity. In addition, CRSEA accepted the invitations to join IFRRO (International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations) and Writers & Directors Worldwide. Already in October 2018, CRSEA hosted the W&DW congress in Moscow. IFRRO and Writers & Directors Worldwide bring together more than a hundred organisations from countries of all continents.

Regarding educational initiatives, a joint project of CRSEA, the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property (RSAIP) and the Skolkovo Foundation was implemented in March 2019, with the launch of the additional professional education program “Intellectual Property in Digital Economy” at the Digital Economy Department of RSAIP. In addition, the International Intellectual Property Olympiad for High School Students 2018-2019 was held with the support of CRSEA.

The meeting covered the implementation of the Hypergraph system, a software complex for the recording and processing of information about intellectual property item and rightholders, as well as for the arrangement of collection and distribution of remunerations. The software is now operational in a number of countries: Russia (RAO, VOIS), Kazakhstan (KAZAK, KOUPIS), Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzpatent), Azerbaijan (AzAuthors).

The participants discussed the reorganisation of a member of CRSEA – Belarusian Society of Authors, Performers and Other Rights Holders. The number of members of the society has been increased to 200 members, the technological equipment has been modernized, it is planned in the long run to expand the scope of private copying and neighbouring rights management. The reforms also affected Kazakh societies: with the participation of CRSEA, a memorandum was signed between the Kazakh Society of KAZAK and KOUPIS (Kazakhstan), which provided for the division of the areas of copyright and neighbouring rights management between the two societies.