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Note 26. Litigation
■
■
Capitol Records and EMI Music Publishing
against MP3tunes
On November 9, 2007, Capitol Records and EMI Music Publishing filed a
joint complaint against MP3Tunes and its founder, Michael Robertson,
for copyright infringement on the sideload.com and mp3tunes.com
websites. The trial was held in March 2014, and, on March 19, 2014, the
jury returned a verdict favorable to EMI and Capital Records. It found the
defendants liable for knowingly allowing the unauthorized content on the
websites. On March 26, 2014, the jury awarded damages in the amount
of $41 million. On October 30, 2014 the Court confirmed the verdict but
entered judgment in the reduced amount of $12.2 million. The defendants
have appealed against the judgment.
■
■
Mireille Porte against Interscope Records, Inc.,
Stefani Germanotta and Universal Music France
On July 11, 2013, the artist Mireille Porte (AKA “Orlan”) filed a complaint
against Interscope Records, Inc., Stefani Germanotta (AKA “Lady
Gaga”) and Universal Music France with the Paris Tribunal of First
Instance (
Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris
) for the alleged copyright
infringement of several of Orlan’s artistic works.
■
■
James Clar against Rihanna Fenty, UMG Recordings,
Inc. and Universal Music France
On June 13, 2014, the artist James Clar filed a complaint against Rihanna
Fenty, UMG Recordings, Inc. and Universal Music France before the Paris
Tribunal of First Instance (
Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris
) for the
alleged infringement of his work.
Litigation involving GVT (discontinued operation)
■
■
Actions related to the ICMS tax
GVT, like all other telecommunications operators, is party in several
Brazilian States to various proceedings concerning the application of the
“ICMS” tax (
Imposto Sober Circulação de Mercadorias e Prestação de
Serviços
), which is a tax on operations relating to the circulation of goods
and the supply of transport, communication and electricity services.
GVT is notably a party to litigation in various Brazilian States concerning
the application of the ICMS tax on voice telecommunication services. GVT
argues that the ICMS tax should not apply to monthly plans. Of the 21
proceedings initiated by GVT, all have resulted in decisions favorable to
GVT and 12 are no longer subject to appeal.
■
■
Actions related to the FUST
and FUNTTEL taxes in Brazil
The Brazilian tax authorities argue that the assessment of the
taxes known as “FUST” (
Fundo da Universalização dos Serviços
de Telecomunicações
), a federal tax to promote the supply of
telecommunications services throughout the whole Brazilian territory,
including in areas that are not economically viable, and “FUNTTEL”
(
Fundo para Desenvolvimento Tecnológioco das Telecomunicações
),
a federal tax to finance technological investments in Brazilian
telecommunications services, should be based on the company’s gross
revenue without deduction for price reductions or interconnection
expenses and other taxes, which would lead to part of that sum being
subject to double taxation. GVT is challenging this interpretation and
has secured a suspension of payment of the sums claimed by the tax
authority from the federal judge.
■
■
Proceedings brought against telecommunications
operators in Brazil regarding the application
of the PIS and COFINS taxes
Several proceedings were initiated against all the telecommunications
operators in Brazil, including GVT, seeking to prevent invoices from
being increased by taxes known as “PIS” (
Programa de Integração
Social
) and “COFINS” (
Contribuição para Financiamento da Seguridade
Social
), which are federal taxes that apply to revenue from the provision
of telecommunications services. GVT believes that the arguments in its
defense have a stronger basis than those of the historic operators as
GVT operates pursuant to a more flexible license that allows it to set its
own tariffs.
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