The illegal activities of the “Ani-Records” recording studio have played a significant role in the theft and misappropriation of intangible cultural expressions of Azerbaijan, including national folk tunes and dances, as well as works of Azerbaijani authors by Armenians for decades.

The Copyright Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan told AzerTAg that it was “thanks to” the "work" of this "producer" of phonograms and videograms and other Armenian recording studios associated with it from 1999 to 2003, the markets of Russia and other CIS countries, as well as a number of far abroad countries were filled with products under the name "Armenian music", "Armenian dances".

Armenian forgers shamelessly note: "Dear friend! By purchasing this tape, you have made a great contribution to the preservation of Armenian culture outside Armenia. The music presented by “Ani Records” studio has been carefully selected in all areas of Armenian culture”. As a result of the looting of "Ani Records", "Vaghzali", "Tarakama", "Yalli", "Uzundara", "Gazagi" Azerbaijani folk dances, "Khan baji", "Dali jeyran" and other folk songs, as well as musical compositions by Azerbaijani authors have been Armenianized. In order to capture Azerbaijani music, despite the requirements of international norms on the origin of folk music samples and the indication of names in the author's works, the pirate studio replaced them with the names of Armenian performers or common names such as "Armenian dances", "rabiz-rabiz", "Armenian stars", etc. in Azerbaijani works. The studio disguised its activities by providing fake addresses and telephone numbers in various Russian cities, creating the image of a legal entity operating legally in Russia. Plagiarism and counterfeiting, forgery and fraud - these are not yet a complete list of "services" of this notorious studio.

The Copyright Agency's lengthy search for fake studios, as it turned out, and appeals to the Russian Copyright Organization and the International Association of Phonogram Producers led to the conclusion that such a studio was not registered with the relevant Russian and regional international organizations and that their licenses were not being used. Based on the appeal to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan, it was unequivocally determined that this studio does not have a general license required by Russian law and its activities are illegal. The Agency asked the Russian Embassy to provide this information to the relevant Russian authorities and assist in preventing the illegal activities of “Ani Records”.

However, it later emerged that the studio had somehow obtained a license to produce audio and video cassettes in mid-2003 and was located at 90 Myasnikyan Street, Chaltyr village, Rostov Oblast. Extensive information provided to the public about music thefts and piracy of Azerbaijani music property by “Ani Records”. The studio was named in the document "Expropriation and destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage" (2001) submitted by the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and in the statement of the Milli Majlis "On destruction and misappropriation of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage" (2002). Since the end of 1999, numerous newspaper articles, magazines, international symposiums, TV and radio have provided extensive information about the studio's piracy.

The Ministry of Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Mass Media of the Russian Federation suspended Ani Records, in connection with the revelation of cases of gross violation of license requirements, including the absence of copyright agreements for the reproduction of musical works, as well as the failure to keep records of the released product, from January 19, 2004 on the basis of an inspection conducted from December 23 to 31, 2003 and by its relevant order.

The information on the suspension of “Ani-Records'” production and distribution of audio and video programs was disseminated by the press service of the Ministry and posted on the official website of the Ministry.

«Xalq qəzeti» 06.02.2004