MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - A popular Russian daily said Monday that back-fee claims being pressed against it by a New York-based lawyer were unfounded.
Julian Lowenfeld sued Komsomolskaya Pravda and another Russian newspaper, Argumenty i Fakty (AiF), seven years ago for allegedly failing to pay him $434,000 in fees for winning a case against North American Russian-language weekly Kurier, which they accused of copyright violations.
The New York Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. bank accounts and trademarks of both newspapers be suspended over alleged failure to pay the lawyer.
The newspaper said it had never signed a contract with the lawyer to defend its interests in courts, and that therefore he acted either on his own initiative or on instructions by a third party.
"Mr. Lowenfeld was informed about the illegitimacy of his fee claims during a personal meeting at the newspaper's editor's office," the newspaper said, adding that court rulings in 1999 and this year had been made without its knowledge or participation in hearings.
If Komsomolskaya Pravda and AiF fail to appeal the ruling by April 12, Lowenfeld will be entitled to use their trademarks and distribution proceeds in the U.S. until the sum due - now standing at $682,000 including interest - is paid to him in full.
