Kazakhstan

[KZ] Copyright Act Passed

IRIS 1997-7:1/18

Andrea Schneider

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan passed its first copyright act on 10 June 1996.

The new act, which sets out to protect the rights of authors of videos, films and published works, also obliges the country's broadcasting bodies to respect intellectual property rights.

The Act provides for a general 50-year protection period. Exceptions include material used for educational or research purposes and news material. Kazakhstan's intention of signing the Universal Copyright Convention is also written into the act.

A proposal for an addition to the act, providing for the introduction of a state registration system, was rejected. This means that there is still no service responsible for enforcing the act. The country's media minister has announced, however, that a working party is being set up to prepare a recommendation on this question. The working party will take as its starting point a proposal made by the Association of Independent Electronic Mass Media of Central Asia on 4 June 1996.

The association proposes the setting-up of a permanent commission, made up of state officials, broadcasters, representatives of the video and cinema industries and public representatives. It would supervise an industrial self-monitoring system, with the government exercising selective control of copyright breaches. Radio and television stations could apply to other broadcasters or the government for written confirmation that the authors of videos or films had authorised their retransmission. A series of penalties are also provided for.

The proposal also favours a classification system for television and video films.