A Russian company has accused Microsoft of copyright infringement.
The Directory Consulting Company recently filed a lawsuit in the Moscow Arbitration Court, demanding that Microsoft's Russian representative pay it 5 million rubles for copyright infringement. The company, based in St. Petersburg, supports ERP system implementation projects and provides consulting services.
In 2010, Microsoft presented a report, “A Study of the Maturity of ERP System Implementations in Russian Companies: Microsoft Dynamics ERP Index,” which became the cause of the lawsuit.
Igor Chepurovsky, Director of the "Directory," stated that the Microsoft study is a reworking of a "Directory" project on a similar topic, "Corporate Information Systems: How Implementation Projects End," the results of which were published back in 2006.
Company representatives believe Microsoft is infringing their copyright and have filed multiple formal complaints and attempted to negotiate, but Microsoft has remained silent. As a result, Directory Consulting Company was forced to file a lawsuit demanding that Microsoft cease all use of the disputed research and demand compensation.
During the court hearing, Vladimir Kanashevsky, lawyer representing Microsoft, filed a motion to postpone the hearing. The motion stems from the fact that Microsoft did not receive the court's order scheduling the hearing and only learned of the lawsuit by chance from the media on January 25, preventing it from preparing a reasoned response.
However, during the hearing, it emerged that the ruling had been served on Microsoft on December 23. Microsoft's lawyers filed another motion to involve the analytical agency IDC and the audit firm KPMG as third parties in the case.
Following the court hearing, Microsoft representatives expressed a desire to examine the materials presented to the court in more detail, but did not provide any comments regarding third parties.
In response to the petition, representatives of the Directory objected that it must be supported by evidence proving that these companies actually conducted such research at Microsoft's request. The hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for February 17, 2011.
Microsoft representatives in Russia deny that the study infringes anyone's copyright. They stated that the materials used in the document were publicly available or owned by Microsoft.
Microsoft's official website states that the study can be obtained by submitting a request. CNews representatives contacted Microsoft at the phone number provided. However, the company said it was impossible to obtain the study because it had been removed from its marketing emails.
This is the first time Microsoft has been sued for copyright infringement. The company itself was previously a plaintiff. From 2001 to the present, the company has been involved in 240 such lawsuits. Almost all of them concern the illegal use of the corporation's software products.
