Ukrainian copyright holders have compiled a “black list” of TV service providers and call business for joint anti-piracy activities.
On May 31, 2018, the Clear Sky Anti-Piracy Initiative diversified its service blacklists.org.ua, and offered another “blacklist” incorporating individuals and entities that provide TV services. Its publication aims at informing market participants about the copyright holders’ claims to specific individuals, including TV service providers.
The list includes information about the problematic companies, their service provision area, the way of providing services, etc. It is subject to monthly updates.
“The list of TV service providers is compiled according to the claims for the previous month and is updated during the first working week of every next month. The information is updated once a month, taking into account the claims that copyright holders have or had, without prejudice to withdrawing them in the relevant month”, as the website states.
Anyone who has any suspicion of illegal content broadcasts is welcome to report on it.
“We will check the information and do our best to avoid unauthorized use of intellectual property and to ensure equality in terms of operation on the market”, as assured by Katerina Fedorova, Head of Clear Sky Initiative.
The blacklists.org.ua service was started by the Clear Sky Initiative in cooperation with the Ukrainian Anti-Piracy Association (UAPA) in 2017. Then it was just a list of URLs of websites, to which the copyright holders had claims and it served for advertisers’ reference. The above list goes on today, and it is also updated monthly.
The Clear Sky Anti-Piracy Initiative invites copyright holders to join the service formation. The website outlines the basic principles of the Clear Sky members as follows:
- Adherence to the intellectual property right: the right of creators to get an honest reward for their work
- Willingness to stand up for own product
- Participation in the internal work and external anti-piracy activities of the Initiative
The goal is to jointly identify entities that illegally use the copyright holders’ intellectual property and report on them to the regulatory authorities, Internet service providers and hosters, payment systems and anyone who respects copyright.
For the time being, the service provider list compilation involves the copyright holders like 1+1 Media (TV channels 1+1, 2+2, TET, 1+1 International, Bigudi, UNIAN) and StarLightMedia (STB, ICTV, Novy Channel, M1, M2, OTSE).
