MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI) – The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has held that Edil-Import company (Internet store Holodilnik.ru) must pay 461.4 million rubles ($7 million) to Cyprus-based company UCF Partners Limited for infringement of exclusive rights for audiovisual works, according to court records.

The court thus overturned a ruling of the Moscow Commercial Court which dismissed the Cypriot company’s claim against the store on April 13.

According to the plaintiff, it is the owner of rights for audiovisual works in the form of 5-second-long advertising clips. As the plaintiff has noted, the defendant placed these clips for airing on various Russian TV channels in the period from July to November 2013 in the framework of an advertisement campaign of Holodilnik.ru online retailer.

The defendant’s counsel has maintained that the Cypriot firm had failed to prove that it was the exclusive owner of rights for disputed clips, and the fact that the defendant had placed the disputed advertisements on federal TV programs.

The defendant also insisted that the plaintiff failed to present documented information on the number of times the clips had been aired, thus rendering it impossible to calculate the amount of compensation. Yet another argument put forward by the defense was the fact that the founder of the company participating in the creation of the disputed clips, which is a third party in the case, is the spouse of the UCF Partners Limited general representative in Russia; therefore, according to the defendant’s counsel, the claim was an abuse of rights on the part of the plaintiff.

The defendant believes that by lodging the claim the plaintiff has attempted to recover compensation for the alleged infringement on the rights for disputed clips, for the placement of which a third party (founded by the spouse of the plaintiff’s representative in Russia) was responsible in accordance with an agreement made with the defendant.