Books by famous foreign writers will be labeled in Russia

Modern translations of novels by Erich Maria Remarque, John Steinbeck, and short stories by Jean-Paul Sartre released after 1990 will be labeled in Russia in accordance with the law on countering drug propaganda. This was reported by RIA Novosti on March 23.

"Classics published before August 1, 1990, as well as their translations released before that date, are not subject to the law. However, modern translations of foreign classics published after 1990, which mention drugs, according to industry experts, are unambiguous and require labeling," explained Elena Beilina, Chairman of the RCC Committee on Electronic Resources.

On March 1, amendments to the federal law on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances entered into force, which introduce criminal and administrative liability for the distribution of works mentioning drugs. To self-regulate the industry, publishers have compiled a list of books subject to special labeling. It includes not only books by modern authors, but also translations of classics made after August 1, 1990.

In particular, the list includes Remarque's novel "Gamble" translated in 2017, Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden", as well as translations of Sartre's short stories from the collection "Nausea. Wall. Words. There are no more bets", issued in 2014-2019. Works published in the original or in translations before the specified date are not subject to labeling.

The list includes not only modern books, including works by Viktor Pelevin, Sergei Lukyanenko, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk and Haruka Murakami, but also translations of classics published after August 1, 1990.

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On March 15, writer Oleg Roy, in an interview with Izvestia, stated that AI could not replace the authors of books. He noted that despite the fact that AI is developing rapidly and is beginning to occupy leading positions in various fields, this does not mean that the result will have the quality of real creativity.

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