Russian company Rambler Group has filed a lawsuit against streaming service Twitch for £2.1 billion over illegal broadcasts of English Premier League games.
Rambler Group, Russia's third-largest internet company, is suing Twitch for £2.1 billion for allegedly breaching its exclusive broadcasting rights of English Premier League games. According to Rambler Group, the streaming service breached its broadcasting rights over 36,000 times between August and November.
Aside from the lawsuit, the internet company is seeking a permanent ban against the Amazon-owned platform in Russia.
Mikhail Gershkovich, head of Rambler Group's sports project, said: "Our suit against Twitch is to defend our exclusive rights to broadcast English Premier League matches and we will continue to actively combat pirate broadcasts."
The Moscow District Court has blocked access to English Premier League game broadcasts by Amazon’s Twitch. It plans to hear the case on December 20.
However, the streaming giant's lawyer, Julianna Tabastaeva, called the Rambler lawsuit "unfounded". Twitch's terms and conditions dictate that users cannot share content without seeking permission from copyright owners, including films, television programs and sports matches.
Tabastaeva argued that Twitch "only provides users with access to the platform and is unable to change the content posted by users, or track possible violations". She added that the streaming company took "all necessary measures to eliminate the violations, despite not receiving any official notification from Rambler".
This year, Rambler bought exclusive digital distribution rights for the English Premier League for three seasons.
"We’re currently holding talks with Twitch to sign a settlement agreement. The service has given us tools to combat pirate broadcasts and we are now only talking about compensation for damages between August and November," Gershkovich said.
Amazon, which bought Twitch for £585 million in 2014, currently holds the exclusive rights to a number of Premier League matches in the UK over the next three years.
