Azerbaijan blocks attempt to mislabel national music as Armenian song

The Intellectual Property Agency of Azerbaijan has reported that a recent attempt to present four songs from the repertoire of People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, Shovkat Alakbarova, as Armenian music was successfully blocked.

According to the agency, a video featuring the song “Yar gəldi”, performed by Alakbarova composed by Adil Garay and lyrics by Ali Karim, was initially uploaded to the BehrooZ Abshar YouTube channel, where it was falsely labelled as a piece of Armenian music. This song, once performed by Alakbarova, was removed after the agency intervened, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Further investigation revealed that several other songs by Shovkat Alakbarova had been mislabelled as Armenian music on the same YouTube channel. These included:

“Töhfə”, performed by Alakbarova and labeled as "Armenian Music, Caucasian (Turkish language) Music 10"

“Getmə, amandır”, labeled "Armenian Music, Caucasian (Turkish language) Music 11"

“Yavaş-yavaş,” labeled "Armenian Music, Caucasian (Turkish language) Music 12"

“Bayram şamları,” labeled "Armenian Music, Caucasian (Turkish language) Music 13"

The Intellectual Property Agency clarified that the music for “Töhfə” was composed by Firangiz Babayeva, with lyrics by Baba Vaziroghlu. It was recorded on May 30, 1980, under the direction of Adil Baghirov, and performed by Shovkat Alakbarova. The song's recording is stored in AzTV’s “Golden Fund” under code number 3226-S.

Similarly, the song “Getmə, amandır,” composed by Haji Khanmammadov with lyrics by Ashig Alasgar, was recorded on December 13, 1971, under the direction of Ahsan Dadashov. This recording is also part of AzTV’s “Golden Fund” under code number 41986.

“Yavaş-yavaş,” with music by Nazil Gamarlinsky and lyrics by Bakhtiyar Vahabzade, was recorded on July 1, 1986, under the direction of Adil Baghirov, and is stored in the “Golden Fund”of AzTV under code number 6693-S.

“Bayram şamları,” composed by Jahangir Jahangirov and lyrics by Shikhali Gurbanov, was recorded on February 8, 1968, and is stored in the “Golden Fund” under code number 38485.

The Intellectual Property Agency further emphasized that the management of Shovkat Alakbarova's property rights on YouTube is handled by Baku-based Mikpro LLC. Through coordinated action with Mikpro LLC, the agency successfully ensured the removal of these videos from the BehrooZ Abshar channel, effectively protecting Alakbarova's rights as a performer.

YouTube management confirmed the violation and restored the singer's rights.

By Vafa Guliyeva