VKontakte Files Appeal against Copyright Infringement Charges

Russian social networking website VKontakte has filed an appeal against a recent court ruling imposing a fine of USD 17,500 (EUR 13,500) on the website for unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material.

Russian record label Gala Records initiated the legal proceedings and last month St. Petersburg Commercial Court upheld lower court’s decision against VKontakte for hosting Russian singer MakSim’s songs without authorization.

Gala Records claims that VKontakte’s access restriction to MakSim’s songs was insufficient as the users could find the songs by changing the search parameters.

VKontakte claims the court has violated the “principle of uniformity” when interpreting and applying certain Civil Code provisions and has now filed an appeal with the Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeals.

This is not the first time that VKontakte has been ordered to pay a fine in spite of its claims that only individual users can upload unauthorized content and be held liable for copyright infringement.

VKontakte is the largest European social network with more than 100 million users. It is known for providing access to unauthorized audio and audiovisual material and has been repeatedly listed in the United States’ annual review of “notorious markets”.

Prepared by: Jelena Jankovic

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Source: Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI)