One of the largest Russian publishing houses, Eksmo, filed a complaint with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) about the alleged plagiarism of its textbook for speech therapist, authored by Nadezhda Zhukova. The primer is part of a series called “Speech therapist Nadezhda Zhukova,” which the Eksmo publishing house has been publishing since 2013. The series is known for its original illustrations created by Ilya Saukovfull-time art editor of Eksmo.

Photo: Official website of the FAS

Eksmo claims that the design of the series is protected by copyright law and it has exclusive rights to use the illustration. These rights have not been granted to any other parties. The publishing house claims that another company, Simbat LLC, engaged in plagiarism by releasing a series of paper books for preschoolers under the Umka brand. This series includes a book called “ABC and Primer”, which has an amazing visual similarity with the Eksmo manual and written by her namesake Maria Alexandrovna Zhukovawho is called “a little-known speech therapist teacher.”

Eksmo claims that the similarity in design and author names between its series and the Umka books causes confusion among consumers and constitutes unfair competition. Therefore, the publisher turned to the FAS with a request to initiate an investigation into this issue.

If the FAS determines that unfair competition has occurred, it may issue orders to correct the situation and prevent further violations of antimonopoly legislation.