Singer Yuri Antonov asks Prosecutor General to prosecute Apple for copyright infringement

Well-known to many singer and composer Yuri Antonov filed an application with the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. In a statement, the author and performer requests that Apple be held accountable for illegally selling their songs on iTunes.

According to Antonov, he did not transfer exclusive rights to use his work to the corporation, which is required in such cases. Therefore, Antonov is going to seek redress for copyright infringement (and probably moral damage), as well as an apology from the corporation.

“In total, the iTunes online store offers to download 90 songs by which I am the author of music and words. Exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and otherwise use my works from the iTunes Store and Apple Inc. they weren’t passed by me, ”the singer’s statement to the Prosecutor General’s Office says.

At the same time, the singer plans to request the maximum possible amount of compensation, which is 5 million rubles per song. Since iTunes sold 90 works of the singer, the total amount of compensation may be 450 million rubles.

It is interesting that the author will demand compensation for violation of rights with the help of the Russian Authors Society (RAO). It was to this organization that the contractor wrote a letter asking him to protect his interests.

Representatives of the organization asked for comments on iTunes, where they received an interesting explanation of the situation. “We received a response that Antonov’s music was provided to the store by a third party - content providers - Routenote / Insomnia Ltd. and Believe SAS /. Money was paid there as royalties from the sale of works belonging to Yuri Antonov. So, Believe SAS received a reward of 41 rubles 40 kopecks for the entire time the album was posted, RouteNote Ltd - 1.24 US dollars, ”commented Sergey Fedotov, Director General of RAO.

Now in iTunes artist songs are not displayed in the search.