MOSCOW, February 29. Russian TV channels “First”, STS, REN TV, “TNT Comedy”, “Rain” and “Nostalgia” has filed a lawsuit new York class-action lawsuit to the U.S. repeaters, said on Monday “Kommersant”.
“Russian TV – according to the newspaper, is accusing the defendants of unauthorized retransmission of television programs and the use of trademarks on the territory of the United States. The defendants “intercepted the satellite signal” broadcasters in violation of the law and distribute it in the U.S. for a monthly fee, using trademarks channels for promotional purposes, says the lawsuit”.
According to the newspaper, the claims presented, in particular, to companies like Infomir, Panorama TV and TV Goodzone due to the fact that they “distribute illegal Russian channels, reducing the price of their packages up to $5-15 $30-50 from the official partners”.
The interlocutors of the newspaper in two companies-the plaintiffs confirmed the claim, explaining that initially, few TV channels has filed separate lawsuits, which were similar and were combined into one in accordance with American legal practice.
The representative of “STS Media” (STS, “Home”, “Che”) does not name the amount of damages, but noted that “broadcasting abroad is a significant source of revenue, and North America brings more than 30% of revenues from international distribution.”
A new lawsuit “won’t be the last,” adds the CEO of the company “First channel. World network” Alexey Efimov. “We did a great job on inventory piracy market, found more than hundred of operators that use the Internet as a means of signal delivery and steal our content, forcing people to pay money for it”, quoted by “Kommersant”.
