The Agreement on Collective Management of Copyright and Relayed Rights finally came into effect this year, two years after the Agreement was signed in Moscow by EAEU member states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
This Agreement outlines that all collective management organisations (CMOs) must give the royalties that have been collected to rights holders on a yearly basis at the very minimum. Additionally, CMOs will have to hire independent auditors to review their financial statements at least every other year or the CMOs will face liability.
This Agreement, enforced in 27th May 2019, has been welcomed as a positive change, allowing for greater consistency and unity in IP law among EAEU member states.
