The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan The Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan JOINT STATEMENT On Unlawful Appropriation and Other Copyright Violations Related to the Composition "Karabagh" by the Azerbaijani Composer Bahram Nasibov

The appropriation and theft of works of Azerbaijani authors and Azerbaijani folklore by Armenians continues. The most recent example is the song "Karabagh" ("The cradle of dreams is always Karabakh") by the well-known Azerbaijani composer Bahram Nasibov, which was performed by Gor Yepremyan with changed lyrics under the name "Sirun Jan", posted on the YouTube platform, and labeled as "Armenian folk," i.e., "Armenian folk song" in the video description. Like the appropriation of Uzeyir Hajibeyov's works by Armenians, this case of plagiarism also caused a wide reaction within Azerbaijani society. On July 9, 2024, the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan released a detailed comment on the matter.

Regarding the subject discussed above, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan state the following:

1. The composition "Karabagh" (from now on referred to as the "Composion"), was written and composed by the Azerbaijani composer Bahram Nasibov in the 20th century and was first performed by the People's Artist of Azerbaijan Arif Babayev in 1972.

2. The Composition was registered on June 2, 1972, in the Azerbaijan Branch of the All-Union Agency on Copyrights, the legal predecessor of the Intellectual Property Agency, in accordance with the legislation of the USSR. After Bahram Nasibov passed away in 1998, his heirs registered many of his song genre compositions, including this one, with the Copyright Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (predecessor of the Intellectual Property Agency) on July 14, 2004. They received composition registration certificate No. 662 from the agency.

3. The Composition is one of Bahram Nasibov's most famous songs, it has been performed many times in Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, and other countries, and there are numerous video and audio recordings of these mass performances.

4. The state registration documents of the Composition, its copies on various media, and the recognition of Bahram Nasibov's authorship during mass performances in Azerbaijan serve as evidence that Bahram Nasibov is the sole author of the Composition.

5. The Composition can be used with the consent of Bahram Nasibov's heirs, and to the extent specified in such consent, with proper attribution to him. However, as can be seen from the description and content of the "Sirun Jan" video on YouTube, Bahram Nasibov is not credited as the author. Instead, the illegally performed composition is posted on YouTube as an "Armenian folk song."

6. Based on the registration documents and the mass performance history of the Composition, the Ministry of Culture and the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan unequivocally conclude that this case constitutes plagiarism of the music of the Composition.

7. As further evidence of plagiarism, several performances of the composition and the video "Sirun Jan" were submitted to the experts of the Intellectual Property Agency for assessment of similarity. The People's Artists and Composers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Faig Sujaddinov and Eldar Mansurov, acted as experts and concluded through their research that the music of the song "Sirun jan" performed by the Armenian singer, is completely identical to the music of the song "Karabagh" composed by Bahram Nasibov in the Chahargah Mugham. In addition, the composition originally named "Karabagh" was renamed "Sirun Jan" and the Azerbaijani lyrics containing the phrase "The cradle of dreams is always Karabakh" were replaced by Armenian lyrics, resulting in a distortion of the original piece.

8. Consequently, the Composition was distorted, and plagiarism was committed on the music that is part of the Composition. As a result, performer Gor Yepremyan and those involved in the unauthorized performance, recording, and online posting of the work infringed upon Bahram Nasibov's personal copyright and the property rights of his heirs. In the given case of copyright violation, Gor Yepremyan bears the main legal responsibility, and other persons involved in the violation share this responsibility.

9. We state that the failure to investigate and address the aforementioned violation would violate the principle of "national treatment," a fundamental principle set forth in Article 5 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, to which the Republic of Armenia is a signatory, as well as other international agreements to which it is a party, including the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

In this regard, we demand that the relevant authorities of the Republic of Armenia address the case of plagiarism, stop the presenting of the Azerbaijani composer Bahram Nasibov's composition as the Armenian folk song "Sirun Jan" with lyrics modified by Gor Yepremyan, restore Bahram Nasibov's copyright, hold the responsible parties accountable, and report on the actions taken in accordance with international law and national legislation.