Major Russian social network in court battle with British copyright holder

I-CD Publishing filed a lawsuit against their former executive Albert Popkov, who worked for them for seven years, launching 192.com and the Passado social network. After leaving the company, he moved to Russia and launched Odnoklassniki, which quickly became Russia's leading social network.

I-CD accused Popkov in February 2008 of copyright infringement and breach of contract, and demanded that it be granted the ownership, assets and revenues of Odnoklassniki.

However, now the Russian website has decided to file a lawsuit against i-CD, Russian business daily Vedomosti writes.

It is the company's own fault that its manager established a rival social network in Russia, Odnoklassniki claims.

I-CD itself showed neglect when it empowered Popkov with the knowledge and abilities that let him open a successful rival business in Russia.

In the case that i-CD wins its case against Odnoklassniki, it would be the one to compensate Odnoklassniki's damages, the lawsuit claims.