BAKU — The Intellectual Property Agency of Azerbaijan has completed its investigation into the unauthorized use of the song “Sene qurban” by Azerbaijani composer Alakbar Taghiyev, stating that the piece has been plagiarized and performed by Armenian artists under a different name.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the Armenian rendition titled “Garun” is a direct appropriation of Taghiyev’s “Sene qurban,” a piece originally composed to the poetry of Azerbaijani poet Mikayil Mushfig and performed by Zeynab Khanlarova in 1968. The song was officially registered in the Intellectual Property Agency, previously known as the Azerbaijan Republic Branch of the All-Union Copyright Agency, on June 10, 1978. The unauthorized version has been performed by various artists, including Tigran Asatryan, Spitakci Hayko, and Iranian-American singer Andranik Madadyan, who altered the lyrics to obscure its origins.

The Intellectual Property Agency highlighted that the presentation of “Garun” on YouTube violated the personal and property rights of the original composer, Alakbar Taghiyev, as the authorship information in the music piece’s “information” section on the platform did not acknowledge his rights, especially for commercial use.