Large Fines for Using Copyright-Free Songs in Russia

Owners of public catering establishments, beauty salons, and private clinics have started to face large fines for using copyright-free songs. Inspections are being conducted throughout Russia.

According to Baza, organizations are being fined between $130 and $64,350 for failing to pay royalties for background music due to a revision of the payment procedure and rates. The rates were increased in February of this year by the Russian Authors' Society (RAO) and the All-Russian Organization for Intellectual Property (VOIS) for the first time in six years.

One of the fined individuals, Ekaterina K., the owner of a pizzeria in Obninsk, reported receiving two fines totaling $4,800 for using eight foreign songs from the 1980s and 1990s. Another incident, involving a fine of half a million rubles, occurred at a popular Japanese restaurant in Kirov. According to restaurant manager Bekhzod Yui, a mystery shopper entered the establishment and recorded the incident for an hour. On the same day, an intern mistakenly played unlicensed music instead of the licensed songs during their shift.