The Scope and Content of Exclusive Copyright Before and After the Adoption of Part 4 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Introduction: the paper deals with the change in the model of describing the content of exclusive copyright after the adoption of Part Four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is to identify the consequences of the transition from the system of independent exclusive rights enshrined in the Law of the Russian Federation “On Copyright and Related Rights” to the concept of a single exclusive right. The authors emphasize the atypical nature for copyright law of the construction of a single exclusive right chosen by the legislator, noting that abroad the model of endowing the author or right holder with a set of independent exclusive rights according to a closed list is preserved, which is balanced by a correspondingly closed list of limitations. Conclusions and results: the authors conclude that the introduction of a single exclusive right has expanded the sphere of the right holder’s control, including within it the methods of using the work that were previously free from protection and had no economic feasibility in such control. This has changed the balance of interests of right holders and users, and potentially requires an expansion of the system of limitations of the exclusive right, since at present an open exclusive right is opposed by a closed system of limitations. Furthermore, the problem of qualifying previously concluded copyright agreements on the transfer of exclusive rights and correlating them with the existing legal regulation has been identified. Based on the analysis of judicial practice, an approach is proposed according to which a copyright agreement under which the entire complex of exclusive rights existing at the time of transfer is transferred is considered as similar in legal consequences to an alienation agreement. In the case of restrictions in the copyright agreement on the transfer of exclusive rights, by time, by territory, or by the content of the transferred rights, such an agreement should be considered as similar in legal consequences to an exclusive license agreement.