NEW IPR CERTIFICATION REGULATION TO HELP COMBAT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 002733

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EB/TPP/MTA/IPE - SWILSON/JURBAN AND EUR/SE DEPT
PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES
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USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/DDEFALCO AND JBOGER

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD KIPR TU USTR
SUBJECT: NEW IPR CERTIFICATION REGULATION TO HELP COMBAT
PIRACY


Summary
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1. (SBU) The GOT issued a new certification regulation
last month, requiring all businesses involved in the
recording, sale, reproduction and distribution of
copyright materials to be certified from the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism (MOCT). The regulation also imposes
a Source Identification (SID) Code requirement on
production and recording facilities. The new MOCT
Acting Copyrights Director General said the new
regulation was a significant tool for the GOT in its
efforts to curb piracy. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a
new certification regulation on April 18, which imposes
a certification requirement on businesses undertaking
distribution, recording, reproduction and sale of
materials containing intellectual property and works of
art. The regulation also defines SID codes and requires
production and recording facilities to submit SID code
information in their certificate applications.
Production and recording facilities are given a special
status in the regulation, and will be subject to an
inspection by the Ministry and related professional
associations prior to the issuance of certificates.
These facilities will also be required to inform the
Ministry about changes in activity, equipment and
capacity, and to include their SID code information in
the materials they produce. The MOCT's provincial
directorates will issue and renew certificates, as well
as audit the facilities. The Ministry will be able to
cancel certificates of businesses if, at any point, it
detects a divergence from the activities contained in
the certificate application.


3. (SBU) The new Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Copyrights Department Acting Director General Tahsin
Yilmaz told Econoff and Econ Specialist on May 4 that
the MOCT was disappointed that Turkey remained on the
U.S. Special 301 Priority Watch List for 2005. Yilmaz
maintained that the certification regulation would make
a significant contribution to the Ministry's efforts to
control piracy. Yilmaz said a total of 200,000
businesses would receive certificates with this
regulation and would be included in the Ministry of
Culture's database. The Ministry of Culture has already
placed computers in the provincial directorates in all
cities and established a network connection with the
Ministry, so that the Ministry can instantly track the
new certificates issued for businesses throughout
Turkey. Yilmaz pointed out the special status given to
the production and recording facilities in this
regulation, and said the certification and auditing
mechanisms would dramatically improve the Ministry's
ability to combat pirate production.


4. (SBU) Begin Text International Intellectual Property
Alliance (IIPA) Translation of Certification Regulation:
From: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism:
Regulation on the Certification of Businesses
Undertaking the Distribution or the Recording,
Reproduction and Sale of Materials on which Intellectual
Property and Works of Art are Fixed
Aim
Article 1 - This regulation aims to lay down principles
and procedures for the certification on a reimbursable
basis by the Ministry of the business premises which
produce, import or record on, reproduce and sell or
distribute and present to the public through any means,
materials used in the fixing and reproduction of
intellectual property and works of art, with a view to
protecting and effectively monitoring intellectual
property rights.
Scope
Article 2 - This regulation entails the principles and
procedures for certification and the obligations of the
premises to which certificates shall be issued.
Basis
Article 3 - This regulation has been developed based on
the amended Article 44 and additional Article 10 of Law
No. 5846 on Intellectual Property and Works of Art dated
5.12.1951.
Definitions
Article 4 - Definitions used in this regulation shall
have the following meanings;
Ministry: Culture and Tourism Ministry,
Law: Law No. 5846 on Intellectual Property and Works of
Art dated 5.12.1951,
Recording Facility (Production Plant): Premises with
technical equipment where fixing is applied to cassettes
in the form of magnetic spools of tape or digitally
fixed through means of injection on fixing materials
such as CDs, VCDs and DVDs reproduced from specially
produced moulds.
SID code: Source identification code given by IFPI
(International Federation of Phonogram Industry)
enabling the identification of premises producing and
recording on fixing materials such as CDs, VCDs and
DVDs.
Carrying material: Materials such as cassettes, computer
diskettes, CDs, VCDs, DVDs and the like,
Chain company: Businesses with ten or more branches in
the country they are operating,
Small business: Premises employing between one and forty-
nine employees,
Medium sized business: Premises employing between fifty
and two hundred and fifty employees,
Large business: Premises employing more than 250
employees,
Mandatory Certification
Article 5 - Business premises producing or importing
materials used for fixing and reproducing intellectual
property and works of art, those which fix, reproduce
and sell these materials or distribute them and present
them to the public through any means are obligated to
obtain a certificate from the Ministry certifying their
activity.
a) Premises producing, importing, distributing or
selling empty fixing materials,
b) Recording facilities undertaking the fixing and
reproduction of productions entailing intellectual
property and works of art,
c) Printing houses and publishers which reproduce,
distribute or sell intellectual property and works of
art,
d) Movie theatres and similar places undertaking public
display and transmission of cinematographic films,
e) Premises undertaking sale, distribution, importation
and marketing of intellectual property and works of art
and fixing materials concerning productions entailing
intellectual property and works of art through any means
and techniques including digital transmission and those
that rent these out.
Certification
Article 6 - Certification is undertaken by the
provincial culture and tourism directorates. All
business premises requesting certification apply by
attaching to the application form they will obtain from
the culture and tourism directorates of the provinces
they are operating in a notarised copy of their business
operating licence, a bank transfer voucher indicating
the payment of the certification fee; and those
businesses that rent out reproduced copies of
intellectual property and works of art apply by
attaching to their application form an authorisation
document indicating the transfer of rental rights.
The application form shall have the following
information;
a) The name of the business premise and its authorised
official and contact information,
b) Operating licence number issued by the Chamber of
Commerce or Chamber of Small Businesses,
c) Tax number,
d) For premises producing or fixing CDs, VCDs, DVDs and
the like:
SID Code,
e) and other information that may be deemed necessary by
the Ministry,
Other documents the Ministry may request relevant
unions, associations and the like to provide may also be
requested during the application for certification.
Premises operating within the state enterprises or in
public or private educational institutes will only have
to provide a copy of the operating licence granted by
the relevant body and a bank transfer voucher indicating
the certification fee has been paid.
A joint application can be lodged in the case of chain
businesses for branches in the same province, however, a
separate certificate on a reimbursable basis shall be
provided for each branch of the business.
In the event of the reproduced copies of a work of art
being sold by the author of the work there is no
requirement for a certificate.
Both premises that have been certified and the authors
of the works in question cannot sell these works in
locations banned by article 81 of the Law.
In the event of a change in address, field of activity
or line of business, the existing certificates are
returned and new certificates are obtained. Certificates
are produced to bear the names of the holders and are
non-transferable.
Certificate features and the information they must
entail
Article 7 - In the certificates to be issued by the
Ministry the name and address of the business premise,
the name surname or title of the proprietor, the
business tax number, the business field of activity, the
type of certificate, its date of issue and validity as
well as the number of the certificate are indicated. The
said certificates are renewed in every three years.
Documents indicated in Article 6 of this Regulation are
produced during renewal of certification.
Obligations of certified premises
Article 8 - Certified premises are obligated to;
a) to indicate the certificate number on the
introductory page of the non-periodical publications,
fixing materials and digital transmission medium,
b) display the certificates in a prominent location in
the business premise,
c) write down the certificate number on invoices and
delivery vouchers,
d) produce certificates and other relevant documentation
during inspections,
e) In case of direct sales to have sales personnel or
distribution vehicles have a copy of the certificate
approved and stamped by the provincial culture and
tourism directorate.
Special provisions concerning fixing facilities
Article 9 - Those fixing facilities where intellectual
property and works of art are fixed and reproduced are
located in Istanbul shall obtain their certificates from
the Copyrights and Cinematography Directorate while
those in other provinces shall obtain theirs from the
General Directorate of Copyrights and Cinematography.
For these facilities to obtain a certificate, in
addition to those listed in Article 6, they must also
produce the following:
a) Report from either the Industry and Trade Provincial
Directorate or the Turkish Standards Institute
indicating their capacity and that they have the
necessary technical equipment,
b) An itemised list of the technical equipment at the
premises as well as copies of invoices or sale transfer
documents of the same,
c) SID code document.
Following the lodging of an application with the above
mentioned documents a commission formed by the Ministry
comprising at least three members including
representatives from the Ministry and the relevant
professional associations shall conduct an inspection to
ascertain that the premises have quality control and
test units and in the event of determining compliance
with the necessary requirements grant the certificate to
the fixing facility.
In addition to their obligations concerning
certification, the recording facilities are also
obligated to inform the General Directorate of all
changes in the type of activity, equipment and capacity
within ten days and to place the SID code and the
certificate numbers on the fixing materials.
Exhibitions and fairs, festivals and similar activities
Article 10 - In the event premises which have been
certified within the provisions of this regulation open
stands at fairs, festivals and areas where similar
activities are organised for the sale of books and
fixing materials entailing intellectual property and
works of art, they may undertake sale activities
throughout the opening period of the festivals and
certified fairs while for a maximum of ten days at other
such activities. In order to do this, a copy of the
certificate approved and stamped by the provincial
culture and tourism directorate indicating the name and
date of the activity in question shall be displayed at a
prominent location in the stand throughout the activity.
No extra fees are charged for this procedure.
Types of Certificates and Fees
Article 11 - Types of certificates are determined by the
Ministry by taking into consideration the fixing,
reproduction, rental and distribution activities.
The certificate fees for premises undertaking fixing,
reproduction, rental and distribution activities shall
be determined by the Ministry. This fee shall be
calculated by multiplying the government employee
monthly salary coefficient by the government employee
basic salary indicators between (1000) and (5000).
The said fees are deposited in the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism Central Accountancy Account and credited as
revenue to the general budget. Necessary budget
allowances to meet costs of printing certificates,
activities and procedures concerning the certification
procedure as well as the fight against intellectual
piracy are included in the budget.
Inspections concerning certificate implementation and
sanctions
Article 12 - The inspection of whether premises that are
obligated to obtain a certificate in accordance with
this regulation have done so is undertaken by local
authorities in the provinces while the inspection of the
fixing facilities is undertaken by the Ministry.
Local authorities impose administrative fines indicated
in the additional Article 10.1.2 of the Law on premises
determined as a result of inspections to be operating
without having obtained the obligatory certificates.
The fact that a fine has been paid does not eliminate
the obligation to obtain the certification.
Annulment of the certification
Article 13 - In the event it is determined that the
certified facilities no longer meet the requirements for
obtaining certificates the certificates of such
facilities are annulled by the Ministry.
Moreover, in the event there exists a finalised court
conviction arising from having violated the law,
certificates of such premises are annulled upon a
notification made to the Ministry by the rights owners,
professional associations of the relevant field of
activity or local authorities.
Provisional Article 1 - Premises and facilities
obligated to obtain a certificate per provisions of this
regulation and those that have formerly received
recording facility adequacy certificate are obligated to
obtain a certificate within six months of the date this
regulation comes into force.
Validity
Article 14- -This regulation which has been developed by
receiving inputs from the Ministry of Finance and
Financial Court of Appeals shall go into effect on the
date of its publication.
Execution
Article 15 - The provisions of this regulation are
executed by the Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Edelman