A number of websites illegally distributing music content have been shut down in Azerbaijan
RAYS, together with the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has won another victory in the field of protecting copyright and related rights.
The nonprofit organization RAYS and the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan continue to consistently defend the rights of music rights holders in Azerbaijan — the latest result of this work was the termination of the illegal distribution of pirated music content on a whole range of internet resources.
For many years, these resources posted works by Azerbaijani and foreign authors and singers without obtaining the appropriate permissions and without paying remuneration to the rights holders.
In order to protect the legitimate interests of authors and holders of related rights, RAYS appealed to the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan with a request to provide assistance in resolving this issue.
Following the review of the case by the judicial authorities, a decision was made to terminate the activities of the aforementioned internet resources. Thus, the websites melody.az, mp3.run.az, mp3indidur.life, mp3indidur.pro, mp3sayt.az, mp3youtube.az, replay.az, mp3big.az, silent.az, yalnizmp3.ws were completely shut down, and on the website lenta.az the section where phonograms and ringtones could be downloaded was removed.
It should be noted that RAYS is an officially registered nonprofit organization holding a license to carry out activities to protect the rights of rights holders, including performers and producers of phonograms. We emphasize that RAYS is a member of such international organizations as SCAPR (the international organization for the protection of performers' rights) and IFPI (the worldwide organization representing and protecting the rights of phonogram owners)
RAYS, together with the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, is actively working to raise the level of legal culture in the field of intellectual property, informing the public, business representatives, and specialized organizations about the importance of complying with legislation in the area of copyright and related rights.
The activities of RAYS are aimed at forming in Azerbaijan a modern system for the protection of intellectual property that meets international standards. One of the priority tasks of RAYS is to inform and call to the law everyone who is involved in intellectual property matters.
In just a few years of its activity, RAYS has concluded dozens of licensing agreements with representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as with hotels, clothing stores, restaurants, shopping centers, and other commercial organizations. Today, thanks to these agreements, companies legally use musical works by Azerbaijani and foreign performers on their premises, regularly paying licensing fees. These funds are then directed to rights holders as payments for the use of their musical works, ensuring fair remuneration for those who create music.
