Current copyright legislation of the cis nations and its relevance for U.S. library collections: The laws of russia, ukraine, belarus, and moldova

This article compares the principal features of the copyright laws of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Moldova. The author highlights the common elements and differences, and discusses features of primary importance for use of material originating in those nations. While U.S. law governs use in this country of eligible copyrighted material originating in any country with which it holds copyright treaty relations, some aspects of the national laws are still relevant to a copyright determination in the U.S. The article discusses key points of the laws that are most relevant to use of literary and artistic works, provides a description of important provisions in the current laws of the four countries, and offers examples illustrating the application of copyright law to library activity.