Hybrid attacks of the Collective Management Organizations in the Russian Federation reached the field of Copyright and Related Rights in the Republic of Moldova and are trying to take control of it, as they have done in other post-Soviet countries, notes disinfo.md.
Several countries are being captured by rigging legislation and subterranean agreements with the aggressive support of the political factor. After raiding the copyright and related domains of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the Russian Authors Society (RAO) was given the impression that it could also destroy the copyright system in the Republic of Moldova.
Thus, at the beginning of November 2021, a group of anonymous people in the field of copyright and related rights announced the launch of the Moldavian Rightsholders Association, abbreviated MORA. This announcement comes after the visit to the Republic of Moldova, in October 2021, of the representatives from RAO and All-Russian Organization of Intellectual Property (VOIS). After a few days of meetings and actions, on October 22nd, 2021, the Public Services Agency registered the Association of Copyright Holders of Moldova “MORA”.
The “authors” association MORA is founded by 6 citizens of the Republic of Moldova: Gherman Stela (President), Codreanu Dumitru (Censor) and Jora Vadim, Țurcan Valentin, Chiroșca Nicolae and Pădure Constantin (members of the Board of Directors of the authors). It should be noted that in addition to the professional variable – from restaurant owner, builders to the unemployed, none of these 6 people is an author or performer and has never had any professional connection with the field of copyright and related rights.
Even if MORA did not have any member – author, producer or performer (according to the information on the MORA website and the lack of information on the AGEPI website confirms this fact), on December 24th, 2021, the MORA representatives submitted to AGEPI the request for endorsement as an Authorized Collective Rights Management and Related Organization.
On January 20th, 2022, AGEPI examined the MORA application and found the total non-compliance of the file submitted with the criteria and requirements regulated by the legislation, Decision no. 44/105 of 20.01.2022 being published in the Official Gazette no. 27-33 from 28.01.2022.
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Even if they were not approved by AGEPI as an authorized OGC, RAO does not give up and MORA sends tearful complaints to the Presidency and Government of the Republic of Moldova that their rights and desire to represent authors and performers in the Russian Federation are being violated. In parallel, the RAO is making efforts and in violation of the statute illegally includes MORA as a member of the Eurasian Confederation of Associations of Rightsholders (EAKO П ) – an organization created by RAO, VOIS and RUR to dominate or at least disrupt the activity of organizations holders of copyright and related rights in post-Soviet countries.
Because all these actions did not work and in fact had no chance of resolution, RAO takes the following action – it influences in a still unknown way Eugen Doga to participate on April 10th, 2022 in the meeting of the MORA general assembly and to become a member of the MORA Council, hoping or relying on the fact that Doga will promote the interests of RAO in the Republic of Moldova. It should be mentioned that Eugen Doga has personally managed his copyright for the last 15 years, withdrawing the collective management rights from all the OGCs in the Republic of Moldova. It remains to be seen whether Eugen Doga’s participation in MORA is a deliberate act or has been fraudulently misled.