MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Russian Network to Pay Royalties: Russia’s biggest private broadcast network agreed to pay songwriters and composers for rights to play their music--the first such royalties contract reported anywhere in the former Soviet Union. The pact signed by Europa Plus was hailed by the government as an important step in combatting audio and video piracy, endemic in Moscow. It is expected to serve as a model for other entertainment companies that profit from Western movies and music without compensating authors and composers. Such copyright violations are estimated to cost them at least $1 million a year in potential Russian royalties.