The film director Nikita Mikhalkov has filed a 2.3 million ruble ($31,000) lawsuit against the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper, accusing it of disseminating false information, the TASS news agency reported Thursday.
The lawsuit is connected to an article titled “Mikhalkov Will Collect Tax on CDs for 10 More Years,” published in Izvestia in September 2014.
The article stated that the Russian Union of Rights Holders, headed by Mikhalkov, obtained the right to collect 1 percent tax on the cost of every piece of electronic equipment or data storage device sold, including mobile phones, computers, video cameras, CDs or DVDs for 10 years.
The Russian Union of Rights Holders started collecting the tax in 2010.
Mikhalkov seeks 1.5 million rubles ($20,400) in compensation for the headline of the article and another 800 million rubles ($10,900) for his photo used in the story.
According to the representative of the plaintiff, Galina Enyutina, the title and the picture give the impression that the taxes are collected personally by Mikhalkov, while it is the responsibility of the Russian Union of Rights Holders, the Meduza news website reported.
