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  • Despite laws, artists have little control over piracy, use of work

    ArmeniaNow.com, 12 March 2004

    Cultural Theft: Despite laws, artists have little control over piracy and
    use of their work

    By Gayane Abrahamyan
    ArmeniaNow arts reporter

    Singers Aramo and Emma Petrosyan sold their apartment to produce their first
    compact disc recording.

    The husband and wife duo are among the most popular contemporary singers in
    Armenia and there is demand for their art. But:

    "Up to now, we have made only small profits from sales," Aramo says.

    The reason is not a lack of sales. It is, rather, a loss of control over
    their product, due mostly to unenforced copyright laws.

    Even though the singers hold copyright to their material, counterfeit copies
    of the cds are pirated and sold at a fraction of the cost of the original
    recording.

    "People buy these poor-quality cds without even paying attention to the fact
    that the cover is just a piece of black-and-white paper copied from the
    original cover," Emma Petrosyan says. "Meanwhile, Aramo spent several nights
    with a designer sitting in front of a computer takings pains and troubles,
    thinking and selecting between different colors, shades and hues.

    "We dedicate our lives to every cd while thieves earn more than we by doing
    nothing."

    Aramo and Emma are not alone in their disgust over the lack of protection of
    intellectual property in Armenia and throughout the former Soviet Republics.
    Research shows their anger is justified.

    Foreign experts estimate that in 2002, piracy of recordings in Armenia
    amounted to about $5 million.

    Armen Azizyan, president of the Agency for Intellectual Property of Armenia
    says 85 to 90 percent of audio, video and computer recordings sold in
    Armenia are counterfeit copies.

    Producer Grigor Nazaryan says a performer can expect to lose $15,000-20,000
    from having a recording pirated. For that reason, local artists rely on
    foreign sales to supplement the loses.

    "Within recent years 'pirates' have become so strong and powerful that they
    even begun printing high-quality covers and only producers can differentiate
    the fake production from the original by the quality of the cd," says
    Nazaryan.

    And the pirating network is well connected.

    Rock band "Oascen Ham" produced a cd in France . But before it was even on
    the market there, band leader Vahagn Papayan found a pirated copy for sale
    in Yerevan .

    Papayan asked the seller where he got the cd. "He said to me 'Do you think
    I'm so stupid to tell you where I got it from? Take it or leave it'."

    Artists are convinced their work is victimized by mafia-controlled sources,
    who are so powerful to avoid prosecution.

    Yerevan lawyer Artur Varderesyan says the Ministry of Internal Affairs will
    soon create a special project for dealing with the piracy problem. (For a
    few years the government has been promising such intervention, however,
    little has been done to realize anti-piracy enforcement.)

    A London-based organization combats piracy in Russia, however, "Armenia is
    not a threat to the outer world since Armenian pirate production, as a rule,
    is not exported and is sold in the inside market. That proves the fact that
    mostly it is the Armenian performers and authors who suffer from piracy,"
    Azizyan says.

    It is not, though, just the copyright thieves who profit from current
    conditions. Television and radio companies and concert promoters use
    artists' material at will and typically without paying royalties.

    The Constitution of Armenia includes a law " On Copyright and Related
    Rights". During Soviet times, Moscow 's All-Union organization enforced
    copyright laws. In 1994 the task was undertaken by the National Agency on
    Copyright. Since 2001, the non governmental organization, Hayheghinak, has
    monitored copyright matters in cooperation with the Agency for Intellectual
    Property.

    Senior specialist at Hayheghinak, Sona Vardanyan, says Armenian authors and
    singers are unaware of their rights and acting laws.

    "If they were aware, then before recording a song they would sign a contract
    with the recording studio so that later they don't illegally collect their
    works in bad quality collections," she says. "In many cases their songs are
    used in commercials and they don't demand a fee either because of not
    knowing the law or because of acting on a 'friendly' relationship."

    Composer and singer Ruben Hakhverdyan is aware of artists' rights, but is
    disillusioned with hopes of seeing any enforcement.

    "How can I protect my copyrights? Whoever opens his eyes starts singing my
    songs and I don't get a penny from it. I don't give a damn about such
    copyrights and such a country," says Hakhverdyan angrily.

    Unlike Hakhverdyan, songwriter Vahan Andreasyan is trying to protect his
    rights through law, but according to him the laws of the jungle apply more
    than laws of justice.

    "It's been three times that I tired to protect my rights in court but what's
    the good of it? The weaker one is always guilty," says Andreasyan.

    Many artists working in Armenian pop music genre, in particular Andreasyan,
    the author of lyrics for Artur Grigoryan's songs, tried to get his fee
    through the legal system. According to him during 10 to 15 concerts a month
    at the State Theatre of Song there are at least three or four songs with his
    lyrics, but it's been 15 years and Andreasyan hasn't received any payment.

    "Before, there was no law, so we didn't demand anything. But now that we
    have these market relations, others started making money on my work, so I
    demanded my share since I don't know how to feed my family," Andreasyan
    says.

    Andreasyan's claim against the Theatre of Song ended in a decision in favor
    of the Theatre. Its director, Artur Grigoryan, presented a letter from the
    Minister of Culture, Youth Issues and Sport stating that most of the monthly
    concerts at State Theatre of Song were charitable.

    "Without checking, the judge trusted and believed that no concert tickets
    have been sold and for my works that have been heard there for eight years I
    was paid 6000 drams (about $10)," says Andreasyan shrugging his shoulders.

    Hayheghinak director Susanna Nersisyan says its not easy, even with a law in
    place, to convince TV and radio companies to pay royalties.

    By law, TV and radio stations are obliged to pay two percent of their
    monthly profit as royalties for material used.

    According to the head of Radio Van company Shushanik Arevshatyan, two
    percent is too much for the company to pay.

    "We have agreement with Hayheghinak to pay 30,000 drams (about $50) monthly
    within several months with presenting a list of songs and authors played
    during a month," says Arevshatyan.

    TV companies are also not paying the required amount; paying instead about
    $90 a month for materials.

    "However, next year we're planning to increase that sum and to take the
    legal two percent with the help of which we'll be able to pay the authors
    fairly," says Nersisyan.

    Hayheghinak divides the money taken from different TV/radio companies
    according to the presented list. They also take into account frequency and
    length of songs. Also, due to some mathematical actions approved by law, the
    sum gets divided among the authors.

    "If some refuse to present a list of songs broadcasted by them, then we have
    no choice but to follow TV or radio broadcasts in order to write down the
    names of songs and authors," adds Nersisyan.

    Tired of copyright violations composer Hasmik Manaseryan complains that she
    gets nothing in return for so many of her songs played. She recalled that
    only once "three years ago I was called and told that as composer I have to
    receive 800 drams ($1.5) while during Soviet years I would make a lot of
    money."

    Composer Hasmik Manaseryan says she gets nothing for her work. However, she
    is not so upset with the fact that she does not get her fees as with the
    fact that her works are played in a distorted way.

    "So often I hear my songs performed by this or that ungifted singer, who
    doesn't even know what and whose song he or she is singing," says
    Manaseryan. "For instance, one singer performs the song 'Who Do I Give My
    Flowers To?' in a terribly changed manner, let alone the fact that in the
    video, for some unknown reason someone gets killed, somebody else calls
    ambulance" In a word the song is spoiled and the video does not correspond
    to it."

    Besides singers, film producers are also unhappy with current conditons.

    Movie director Albert Lazarian points out with anger that on December 7
    last year his movies were shown eight times on Armenian TV channels, and he
    cannot tell the number during other days.

    "My movie 'Merry Bus' is right now being sold in Germany , the US , Greece ,
    without any right on that. But I am the owner of that movie. You trouble
    yourself over it, shoot a movie and then someone you don't know makes money
    on it. It's impossible to prevent that piracy," says director Albert
    Lazarian.

    The same displeasure is expressed by movie director Ruben Gevorgyan
    according to whom an artist gets terribly discouraged and desperate when
    something created from his blood, his life and his soul is being negligently
    shown, no matter if it's appropriate or not. "And we find out about it not
    in case of a fee, but in case when there isn't any."

    ---
    http://www.armenianow.com/2004/march12/arts/index.asp
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