Got $3 billion laying around that Twitch can borrow? Twitch is being sued by a Russian internet company over illegal broadcasts of English Premier League soccer games. The Russian company wants the live streaming service to pay 180 billion roubles (USD 2.8 billion), and have the service banned in Russia.
Rambler Group has exclusive broadcasting rights to Premier League games and is claiming Twitch is breaching this contract.
According to a report by the BBC, Twitch called Rambler’s lawsuit “unfounded.” Speaking with Russian-language provides users with access to the platform and is unable to change the content posted by users, or track possible violations.” She also says Twitch did all it could to “eliminate the violations despite not receiving any official notification from Rambler.”
“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,” said Rambler head of sports projects Mikhail Gershovich.
A Moscow City Court will hear the case on December 20, and until then has temporarily suspended English Premier League streams on Twitch. Russia is reportedly the third-largest viewership of Twitch.
