Soviet-era films being sold illegally on iTunes, say firms
updated 11:45 am EST, Mon January 31, 2011
Pirates using apps to profit
A series of Soviet-era movies are being sold illegally on iTunes via the App Store, the BBC reports. These include titles like Assa, Gentlemen of Fortune, The Diamond Arm, Kin-dza-dza and Cheburashka. Despite being produced under communism, both Mosfilm and the Joint State Film Collection are asserting various copyrights. Mosfilm is said to be preparing a formal claim to submit to Apple, which insists it will act when it receives a complaint.
"It is illegal to present our films as applications either in iTunes or on any other Internet site. It is permitted only on our own Mosfilm site," says Mosfilm's deputy director general, Svetlana Pyleva. "There are no third parties which we have permitted to use our content," she adds. "Maybe Apple will take appropriate measures and help us solve the problem."
JSFC press secretary Ekaterina Toropova notes that her organization had no idea its movies were being sold on the App Store until the BBC mentioned it. "We'll try to get in touch with the developers," says Toropova. "It is possible that they obtained licenses from someone else and they themselves are in the dark as they are sure that they sell a legitimate product. We'll explain to them that they are wrong."
The Ukrainian developer of the Cheburashka app, Vladimir Penshin, has openly stated that he released it without permission. "Of course, I do not have any license agreement," he comments. "This is all very simple. The companies, who can have complaints, submit them to Apple and Apple notifies me that they have to withdraw the application." He also admits that the app's creation was motivated purely by profit, and that his actions were wrong. "Maybe I am breaking the law," he says.
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Copyright in the Developing World
While developed world is far from perfect here, there needs to be a lot of serious education done in the developing world regarding the value of copyright and respect for it.
Vast majority of formerly Soviet Bloc countries, as well as pretty much all of the developing world has absolutely no clue what copyright violation actually means. In many of those countries, the level of content creation has proportionately diminished, compared to the period up until about 15 years ago, when copying became significantly easier. Musicians no longer produce albums in order to generate revenue. Studios rarely invest much in films; unless they can raise money through some major corporate sponsorships, producers don't bother making movies. Almost nobody has any moral qualms about illegally copying entertainment or software. Not only that; many actually make a living knowingly (and willingly) selling counterfeit, pirated or bootlegged content.
The attitude of that Ukrainian developer is fairly typical. It is unlikely he will every be prosecuted for anything within his domestic jurisdiction.