MOSCOW, September 19 (RAPSI) – Russian Authors’ Society (RAO) collected 4.5 billion rubles ($69.2 mln) of royalty fees in 2015 despite lowering economic activity in Russia, official announcement of the organization reads on Monday.

According to RAO, collection of royalty fees in public performance segment increased by 200 million rubles ($3 mln) compared to previous recorded year. However, in some segments, including revenue from TV and radio broadcasters dropped by 2 percent, which is indicative of declining advertisement revenue for those broadcasters.

RAO noted that, despite complicated economic situation in Russia, society managed to maintain the high level of royalty fees and payments.

The Russian Authors’ Society is a non-governmental organization created in 1993 for collective management of author’s rights. At this moment over 25,000 people are listed as its members.