When Songs Become State Property: How the Intellectual Property Sanctions Mechanism Works
9 September 12:44
OPINION
Liubov Maidanyk, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO), PhD in Law, Associate Professor
An event took place in Ukraine that clearly demonstrates how the sanctions mechanism works in practice even in the field of IP (Intellectual Property). The Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO/IP Office) registered the property rights to nine songs belonging to Taisiya Povaliy with the state of Ukraine represented by the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU).
This is not just another bureaucratic entry in the register. This is a real confirmation that sanctions can and should turn the assets of those who betrayed the country into a resource for the state.
How it became possible
The High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to confiscate the assets of Taisiya Povaliy to the state. The legal basis was paragraph 1-1 of part 1 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions”, which allows for the actual confiscation of property of individuals who support Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In simple words: if you work for the enemy, your assets will work for the state.
Among Povaliy’s assets were property rights to music and lyrics to songs confirmed by contracts: “I’ll Hug You,” “Love, Understand and Listen,” “Guardian Angels,” “Forever,” “I Just Want,” “Beads of Love,” “More Than Close,” “I’m Flying Far Away with You Blue,” and “Good Morning.”
UANIPIO officially registered these works with the State of Ukraine represented by the State Property Fund of Ukraine and issued the relevant certificates (information was published on August 29, 2025 in the Bulletin “Copyright and Related Rights” No. 92, and also entered into the Special Information System (SIS) of UANIPIO).
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Why it is important
This is one of the first cases when the state receives copyrighted works as a result of sanctions. In legal terms, it is a “recovery of assets for the state’s revenue”. In simple terms, this is a sanction mechanism that actually works.
Since the management and sale of the recovered sanctioned assets must be efficient and benefit the state, a number of questions arise as to how the new right holder will manage such property rights, taking into account their specifics, in particular the territoriality of legal protection:
- How should these rights be managed in the future?
- Is it possible to commercialize them – to conclude contracts, monitor their fulfillment, receive royalties?
- Can the state be an effective “manager” of a music catalog, even one that belonged to a sanctioned person?
Legislation is trying to provide answers. The updated law on the State Property Fund of Ukraine(the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Optimizing the Activities of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, Improving State Property Management and Increasing the Effectiveness of Sanctions Policy“) designated it as the sole manager of assets “confiscated” through the sanctions mechanism. The main goal is to sell this property to replenish Ukraine’s recovery funds. However, intellectual property is not buildings or machinery, but, for example, music or works of art, so there are specifics here.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine has the right to manage assets recovered as state revenue in accordance with the procedure provided for by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1233 of November 21, 2023. According to this procedure, the SPFU may either appoint a balance holder institution to manage the property or organize its sale through electronic auctions.
One of the possible steps is to select the SPFU’s balance sheet holder from among the institutions and organizations under its management or other legal entities with experience in the music business. At the same time, if the second option is chosen and the property rights to songs are put up for sale, it will actually be the first ever “privatization” of copyright in Ukraine.
Conclusions
Of course, the question arises: is it possible to effectively fill the budget with such songs? Although the songs themselves are not by Taisiya Povaliy, most of them are written in Russian, which does not add to their popularity in the Ukrainian cultural space.
But this is not even the key. The main thing is the principle. The state demonstrates that sanctions mechanisms work. The assets of those who chose the Kremlin over Ukraine can and should serve Ukraine – not symbolically, but in a very real way.
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