Russian Union of Rightholders recorded outstanding royalties collection in 2020

The royalties collected by Russian Union of Rightholders in 2020 reached a record of 6.1 billion rubles, follows from the published report. One of the main reasons for the increase in royalties collected in the pandemic 2020 is the growing demand for sound and video recording equipment.

The amount of royalties distributed among the owners of copyright and related rights, also increased by 1.4 times, to 4 billion rubles. Also, according to the report of last year, Russian Union of Rightholders concluded around 6,500 contracts with copyright holders, which is 9% more than in 2019.

Sergei Filippov, Deputy CEO at Russian Union of Rightholders, commenting on the results of royalties collection for the past year, noted: “Royalties collected by Russian Union of Rightholders are connected directly to the demand for the corresponding equipment – an increase in demand means an increase in the import and the growth of royalties accordingly. In other words, in 2020, due to the demand for certain equipment and the proportional increase in the volume of import, Russian Union of Rightholders increased its collection and payments of royalties.”

Mr. Filippov also noted that the systemic changes within the organization, which were launched four years ago, played an important role in increasing the efficiency and financial performance of Russian Union of Rightholders: “We have completely reformed the system of royalties collection and optimized administrative costs. We also created a single digital network that unites the municipal unitary enterprises in order to make the process of collecting and distributing royalties as transparent as possible.”