On October 1, 2020, the director of one of the Transcarpathian program service providers was convicted for the illegal retransmission of channels of the 1+1 media group: «1+1», «2+2», «TET», «PLUSPLUS», «UNIAN», «Bigudi», and channels of «Media Group Ukraine»: «Football 1», «Football 2», «Ukraine», «NLO TV». The provider was sentenced to pay a fine for committing the crime, as provided for in Part 1 of Article 176 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of copyright and related rights).

During the pre-trial investigation, joint efforts of the Main Department of the National Police of the Transcarpathian Region and the SBU Department in the Transcarpathian Region conducted a search of the defendant's premises, seized telecommunications equipment and conducted a number of forensic examinations, which proved the fact of illegal retransmission of media group channels using cable television technology.

Lawyers of SMARTSOLUTIONS LAW GROUP, representing the interests of 1+1 media in the fight against piracy, report that the verdict was issued by one of the district courts of the Transcarpathian region.  

«It documented the deliberate illegal reproduction and distribution of programs of the «1+1», «2+2», «TET», «PLUSPLUS», «UNIAN», «Bigudi» channels in the provider's cable network, which caused significant damage to the copyright holder. The court agreed with this qualification and, in accordance with the agreement with 1+1 media, imposed a fine on the violator. In addition to the fine, the punishment for this offense under the relevant sanction also provides for corrective labor for up to two years or imprisonment for the same term», – commented  partner of SMARTSOLUTIONS LAW GROUP, Oleksandr Paputsia.

1+1 media entered into a reconciliation agreement with the violator, which agreed on a fine as a measure of punishment, a similar agreement was concluded with «Media Group Ukraine». Both agreements were approved by the court.

«Considering that the violator admitted guilt, concluded a licensing agreement and fully compensated for the damage caused, he was offered to conclude a reconciliation agreement. The agreement was approved by the court on October 1, 2020. This verdict became the fourth in 2020, which brought violators of 1+1 media's related rights to criminal liability», – added  partner of SMARTSOLUTIONS LAW GROUP, Oleksandr Paputsia.

Serhiy Chernyashchuk, an expert on intellectual property of «Media Group Ukraine» commented: «We believe that the decision on the case is fair and sufficient. In the future, we expect compliance with the intellectual property rights of the TRKU for the retransmission of channels by this business entity».

Director of GR 1+1 media and head of the «Clean Sky» Initiative Vyacheslav Miyenko noted that the pre-trial investigation is expected to be completed soon and a number of other criminal proceedings will be referred to court against violators of related rights from Transcarpathia and Ivano-Frankivsk region.