Sverdlovsk Region Court overruled Yekaterinburg Leninsky District court’s putting an end to the claim laid by the Russian Authors Society against Salut Movie Theater as the case was not within the court’s jurisdiction. The plaintiff insisted on being paid the royalties that were their due. Similar decisions made at Yekaterinburg Oktyabrsky District court regarding the movie theaters Znamya, Zarya, and Yugo-Zapadny (parts of Premier Zal chain) were overruled as well.

Now some changes were made to Russia’s Arbitration Procedure Code early in December 2011 which stated that cases involving organizations dealing in multi-party management of authors’ rights (including the Russian Authors Society) were to be processed by arbitration courts. However, the claims that were being heard in regular courts at the time the changes to the Code were adopted should, according to the Russian Authors Society, be processed in these particular courts.

‘Despite a clear indication in the legislature, the above-mentioned cases were dismissed by the district courts, which meant the Russian Authors Society had to contest their rulings in the regional court. We have also contested a similar ruling regarding the dismissal of the claim against Sverdlovsk Philharmonic,’ the organization’s plenipotentiary representative in Ural Federal District and Perm Territory Alexei Zvonarev told UrBC.

On March 6, 2012, Sverdlovsk Region Court rejected Salut Movie Theater’s complaint regarding the ruling pronounced by Leninsky District court: the court actually ruled that the enforcement order through which the Russian Authors Society made the movie theater pay them 195,000 RUR to the advantage of foreign composers (the authors of Avatar, Shrek Forever After, Ice Age 3, and Madagascar 2) was fully legitimate.