Film director Aleksandr Voytinsky has warned against state attempts to regulate shadow movie distribution in Russia, telling the National News Service that a lack of foreign competition threatens to harm the domestic cinema industry.
Speaking to the news outlet, Voytinsky said that while the Russian government's desire to control box office revenues from shadow distribution is understandable, compulsory licensing would leave screenings of unauthorized foreign content illegal.
Voytinsky is a prominent Russian filmmaker known for directing fairy tale feature films including By the Pike's Will, Tinderbox, and Yaga on Our Head.
Compulsory Licensing Proposal
The director's comments follow a call by Russian Presidential Advisor Elena Yampolskaya to address shadow film distribution across the country. As reported by Vedomosti, Yampolskaya suggested adopting a legal framework based on Belarus's model of compulsory licensing, which permits the use of copyrighted works without the rights holder's consent provided that mandatory payments are made.
Voytinsky acknowledged that while compulsory licensing carries logic for the state and practical sense for the film industry, using copyrighted content remains illegal. He added that the outcome depends on the framework chosen, noting that if Russia lived alone on the planet everything would be fine, but because others exist, agreements must be negotiated with them. Furthermore, he stated that the government is simply bypassing foreign copyright holders while seeking to collect revenue, describing it as a matter of state power and control.
Voytinsky stated that audiences do not care how films are shown and will continue watching what they are used to seeing. However, he warned that a lack of competition makes the industry complacent, lowering standards and blurring concepts of what is good or bad, technical or untechnical, and competent or incompetent. He concluded that the situation is ultimately harmful to Russian cinema because creators only grow within a competitive environment.
Industry Skepticism
Concerns over compulsory licensing were also raised by screenwriter Oleg Malovichko, whose writing credits include Attraction, Ice, and Union of Salvation. Malovichko previously told the National News Service that foreign copyright holders are unlikely to accept compulsory licensing for shadow distribution, rendering any such regulatory mechanism ineffective.
