Rights and Copyrights

For years the Soviets have raided Western publishing houses and simply taken whatever they wanted. In 1972 alone they published 8,100,000 copies of books by Americans without gaining their authors' consent and without paying royalties. Western governments, publishers and authors have long pleaded with Moscow to change its ways. Last week the U.S.S.R. suddenly announced that it accepts the Universal Copyright Convention. Although royalty payments will not be retroactive, the Soviets are now committed to enter into financial contracts with foreign publishers, just like the 62 other adherents (including the U.S.) to the UNESCO-sponsored convention.

Since the U.S.S.R. translates far more foreign books, mainly scientific, than the West gets from Russia, the Soviets stand to lose millions of dollars in hard currencies. Like the agreement to pay some old Lend-Lease bills, however, it is part of a general normalization of East-West relations. Beyond that, the copyright decision has political consequences as well. In Moscow last week a Communist Party official said bluntly that "the copyright law will prevent writers from smuggling out their work for publication abroad." As an example, she cited Alexander Solzhenitsyn, whose last three banned novels have been bestsellers in the West.

Until now, some dissident writers have been able to avoid trouble by claiming that their books appeared abroad without their consent. They " risked imprisonment only if it could be proved that their work contained "slanderous inventions defamatory to the Soviet state." In the future, any publication within the copyright area would need the writer's approval. The Soviets could then claim that any foreign publication of a dissident work violates the state monopoly on foreign trade--a crime punishable by up to ten years in prison and confiscation of property.

Soviet adherence to the copyright convention will also establish official control over Western publication of works that appear in Russia. Such works were previously in the public domain, and Western houses felt free to print what they chose. Says U.S. Copyright Lawyer Alan U. Schwartz: "The Soviets may now presume to play on the commercial greed of our publishers by offering special deals. We must be very careful to prevent the Soviets from using their copyright to suppress some of the finest works of Russian literature."

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