A recent workshop on "Actual Issues of Copyright Protection" was held at the Bukhara specialized art school. It gathered together representatives of culture and copyright experts.

The workshop refers to the legislative system in Uzbekistan and its implementation in life. Bobokul Toshev, the Chairman of the Chamber for the Protection of Copyrights of Artists, Creators and Performers, Professor and key speaker said, “the law ‘On Copyright and Related Right’ has been in forced since 2006. Moreover, Uzbekistan has ratified 5 Conventions in the field of copyright and related rights.” He cited various laws in the field and emphasized that the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted Agreement ‘About cooperation of the State Parties of the CIS on protection and protection of the rights to objects of copyright and the related rights in information and telecommunication networks’ (November 12, 2021) on October 3, 2022.

He pointed out the positive changes in the field. For example, the establishment of the Chamber for the Protection of Copyrights of Artists, Creators and Performers. The Chamber was established under Presidential Decree and it determined the Chamber as the organization managing intellectual property rights on a collective basis. The Chamber is an NGO designed to protect authors and right holders, to help to further the interests of its members in the field of copyright protection. The activities can range from protecting the economic and moral rights of authors, to hosting various educational events for the betterment of the members and increasing copyright visibility.

Despite the positive changes, Mr Toshev underlined the challenges that continued to hamper achievements. “We can observe several issues that infringe copyright. In particular, the absence of contractual relations between performers and authors or between users and authors, which leads to conflict situations.”

As B. Toshev noted: “It is important to establish cooperation between state bodies and non-governmental organizations in order to fulfill the international obligations of our republic to respect copyright and related rights, increase the international rating of our country in this area and improve its image.”

Sherali Juraev, Head of the Department for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights of the Department of Justice of the Bukhara Region, said “It is alarming that works and phonograms are used by concert halls, shopping centers, public catering establishments and other places without concluding an appropriate agreement with the copyright holders or the organization managing their property rights. A s a result of copyright infringement, authors and right holders do not receive their royalties and performance fees. This is the reason why right holders do not receive financial support, and the state budget does not receive the corresponding tax deductions.”

In a session on copyright protection focused on how to protect copyright, where to go and what to do if authors’ rights are violated, as well as how to prevent copyright and related rights infringement and how to confirm the existence of copyright.

Sh. Juraev said that The Department sets regular on-site inspections to identify copyright infringement, file a formal charge against a user that may lead to a civil court, a fine and/or payment to the injured party.

B. Toshev, Chairman of the Chamber emphasized that according to Article 1771 of the Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility, officials and individuals who use works without permission and a proper license agreement face a fine. And a legal entity may lose the equipment that was used to reproduce and distribute an author's work without a permission.