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SPOTLIGHT
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Pak firm duplicating Russian arms under copyright violations
P
K Vasudeva
A Pakistani defence firm has been caught blatantly duplicating
Russian arms at an international exhibition in Turkey, according
to reports. Representatives of the state-owned Bazalt found
that the ammunition being displayed by the Pakistan defence
factories was quite similar to their own product, the Russian
news agency, Ria-Novosti, reported.
Bazalt director General Vladimir Korenkov then sent specialists
to examine the ammunition in question. The experts said there
was no difference between Bazalt products and those of the Pakistani
firm.
When confronted, Havar Nawaz, export manager of the Pakistani
firm, admitted to duplication and immediately removed the products
from the exhibition. The Russian company has registered a case
of copyright violation against the Pakistani firm. Mr Nawaz
agreed to legal proceedings and pay compensation for illegal
trading in Russian arms, the agency reported.
According to Articles 3 and 4 of Agreement on Trade Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO), copyright and related rights form
part of TRIPS. The subject matter of copyright protection includes
works in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever
the form of expression. The Pakistani firm copying Russian ammunition
without getting a licence falls under copyright violations being
the original scientific creation of the Russian company.
Owners of copyright in a protected work have a right to exclude
others from using it without their authorisation. The rights
of copyright owners are, therefore, often described as exclusive
rights to authorise others to use the protected work. The acts
usually requiring the authorisation of copyright owners are
as under:
* Reproduction rights: copying and reproducing the work.
* Performing rights: performing the work in public (e.g. play
or concert).
* Recording rights: making a sound recording of the work (e.g.,
gramophone records or “phonograms” in the technical language
of copyright law).
* Motion picture rights: making a motion picture (often called
cinematographic work in technical language).
* Broadcasting rights: broadcasting the work by radio or television.
* Translation and adaptation rights: translating and adapting
the work.
In addition to these exclusive rights of an economic character,
copyright laws provide original authors moral rights. These
enable authors, even after they have transferred economic rights,
to claim authorship of the work and to object to any distortion
or other derogatory action in relation to the work which would
be prejudicial to their reputation or honour.
The main provisions on copyright and neighbouring rights are
contained in the Berne and Rome Conventions. The infringement
of copyright by the Pakistan falls under the first category
of copyright — “reproduction rights”. The Pakistan defence factory
that has abused the copyright will have to pay a heavy penalty
once it is proved in the court of law that it has carried out
the infringement of the copyright of the Russian company by
copying the scientific design and its material.
The agreement states that national courts shall be able “to
order propt and effective provisional measures” to preserve
evidence in regard to alleged infringement of intellectual property
rights (IPR) and to prevent an infringement from occurring,
inter alia, by preventing the entry of imported goods into the
channels of commerce in their jurisdiction.
Where infringement of IPRs has been established, the courts
shall have the authority to order the infringer to pay to the
right holder damages to compensate for the injury. In addition,
in order to create an effective deterrent, the courts are authorised
to order the destruction of the infringing goods so that they
do not enter commercial channels.
The agreement further calls on countries to see that where there
is “willful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on
a commercial scale”, the infringer is prosecuted under criminal
law and punished with imprisonment or fines sufficient to provide
a deterrent.
In view of the blatant infringement of copyright provisions
by the Pakistan defence firm, it is likely that it will be punished
with heavy fines from the Russian court of law. This is essential
as a deterrent as it has been reported that the Pakistan firms
have been repeatedly infringing copyright laws.
While this is the first time Pakistan has been caught red-handed
for clandestine arms manufacturing and trading, the Russian
media has often accused Islamabad of illegal arms production
in connivance with China.
(The writer is visiting faculty, Business School, Panjab
University, Chandigarh) |
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