Music labels sue Russia social network site vKontakte over copyright breach

Three major labels are suing Russian social network vKontakte, claiming that the company has deliberately fostered "large scale" music piracy on its service.

Sony Music Russia, Universal Music Russia and Warner Music UK have filed separate lawsuits in the St Petersburg & Leningradsky Region Arbitration Court, working with local industry body NFMI and global organisation the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), on the cases.

The labels say that vKontakte, which has 143 million registered users globally, including 88 million in Russia, is storing a large catalogue of music uploaded by its users, and has refused to strike licensing deals with the rightsholders.

"VK's music service, unlike others in Russia, is an unlicensed file-sharing service that is designed for copyright infringement on a large scale," IFPI chief executive Frances Moore said.

"We have repeatedly highlighted this problem over a long period of time. We have encouraged VK to cease its infringements and negotiate with record companies to become a licensed service. To date, the company has taken no meaningful steps to tackle the problem, so today legal proceedings are being commenced."

The IFPI said the widespread availability of downloadable music on vKontakte was harming licensed digital music services in Russia, including local players Yandex and Trava, and global services iTunes and Deezer.

The IFPI's most recent figures show Russian recorded music revenues of 2.2 billion roubles (HK$483 million) in 2013, putting it outside the top 20 countries in the body's global rankings.