14 DAY TRIAL // As we previously reported, Facebook has entered a legal action against what seems to be an exact copy of the American social network. Although the formal announcement of the lawsuit has not been made yet, studiVZ, the company that was accused of plagiarism, has released a quite intriguing statement regarding the matter.
"Now that Facebook, despite trying hard, has not been successful in the German market, the company seeks to obstruct studiVZ through court action. Their strategy appears to be: If you can't beat them, sue them," said Marcus Riecke, CEO of studiVZ Ltd. Indeed, the German social network is the most popular in Germany, as well as in Austria and Switzerland. Considering that, as most of the public opinion believes, the success was acquired 100% off the features and design copied from Facebook, the assertion could be interpreted as rather wrongly arrogant.
Furthermore, the German company claims that all Facebook aims at is an international monopoly. "There are numerous social networks. Facebook was not the first and certainly isn't the only one. By attempting to harm studiVZ through a meritless California lawsuit, Facebook is arrogantly laying claim to an international monopoly over social networking sites that the facts show it does not deserve," added Riecke.
Both Facebook and studiVZ are based on the same recipe, but still, the German company's representatives state that the former is "one of the many" social networks, trying to undermine its qualities. Lawyers for the German company have filed for a declaratory judgment at the District Court in Stuttgart, hoping that a local commission will do them justice.
The character of the indemnifications that Facebook is seeking is not known yet. The company will probably make an official statement regarding this matter soon. Meanwhile, the lawyers of studiVZ, a company that was launched one year after Facebook, have to make a strong case in order to prove that all similarities between the two networks are accidental, or at least that they don't infringe any copyrights.