In accordance with the Law "On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with further improvement of legal protection of intellectual property objects" dated from August 20, 2021, the fine for violation of copyright has been introduced and corresponding changes were made to the Law "On copyright and related rights" (hereinafter - Law).
Article 65 of the Law, as amended, establishes an obligation for the infringer to pay a compensation in the amount from 20 to 1000 Minimum wage rate (hereinafter - MWR) for violation of copyrights. The amount of compensation is defined based on the nature of the violation and the degree of damage, taking into account the usual business practice.
Prior to that, the law did not provide any reference to the specific amount of compensation, but author had a right to claim for compensation in accordance with Civil Code of RUz. On the other hand, copyright infringement, regardless of any compensation, is a ground for bringing the infringer to administrative liability. In accordance with the Code of RUz on “Administrative liability”, copyright infringement entails a fine from 1 to 5 MWR for citizens and from 5 to 10 MWR for officials, followed by confiscation of copies of the infringing author's rights.
The objects of copyright can be literary works (literary and artistic, scientific, educational, journalistic, etc.), dramatic and script works (theatrical performance); musical works with or without text; choreographic works and pantomimes, and others.
Imposing a fine for copyright infringement is proper and at the same time an effective measure, which can prevent illegal use of copyright.
The introduction of a fixed amount of compensation will eventually serve as a good tool to reduce the growing number of infringements, as well as to provide adequate compensation for copyright infringement.
Despite the fact that the above-mentioned legislative change was adopted relatively recently, in judicial practice there have already been cases of application of sanctions in the form of compensation when a decision was made in a lawsuit against the famous singer of Uzbekistan.