Armenian pop star files copyright infringement suit after hit song gets misrepresented as Azeri

Armenian singer-songwriter Erik Karapetyan, known simply as Erik, said Wednesday that he was starting a copyright infringement process after one of his hit songs was falsely described as an Azerbaijani song on Russian television.

In a statement, Erik said that his Voch Avel Voch Pakas song, written by him in 2018, had been continuously unlawfully “rearranged, distorted and performed” in various languages around the world for many years.

“But my patience ran out when few days ago my song was played in a distorted version for the second time without any permission on air during the Russia-1 state Russian channel’s Sunday Show with Andrey Malakhov, this time performed by Azerbaijanis. What’s regrettable and shameful is that the song was presented to be an Azerbaijani song,” the singer said.

“I wrote the song in 2018 in Yerevan, I am the author of the music, and the lyrics were authored by Grigor Kyokchyan. I have started a legal procedure regarding the matter and I will fight in the framework of the law until the end for my copyright,” he said, expressing regret that many people in Armenia are listening to the distorted version of his song.

He thanked his fans for supporting him.