Russian social network VKontakte has won the case against U.S. record company Warner Music over the illegal distribution of music, the RBC business news website reported Thursday, citing the company's spokesman.
The St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Arbitration Court rejected Warner Music's claim to recover from the social network 20.4 million rubles ($278,000) as well as delete 17 music tracks, Yevgeny Krasnikov, the spokesman for VKontakte told RBC.
The case against Warner Music is the latest in a series of VKontakte's legal battles with international music rights holders.
In 2014, the record companies Sony Music Russia, Universal Music Russia and Warner Music U.K. filed three separate lawsuits against VKontakte. The plaintiffs sought a total of 51 million rubles ($695,000) from the Russian social network in compensation for the illegal distribution of copyrighted content, the TASS news agency reported.
Last year, VKontakte signed a settlement agreement with the record company Sony Music. Earlier this week, the social network won a case against recording label Universal Music, seeking the removal of 13 music tracks from the website and compensation worth 15.6 million rubles ($212,500), RBC reported.
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