The Copyright and Related Rights Association (AsDAC) denies charges of the National Association for the Protection of Intellectual Creation (ANPCI) that in 2013 the Association has illegally collected 5 million lei – Moldovan authors and performers’ remuneration from abroad. Its Chairperson Angela Stroici said on the press conference at Infotag that the AsDAC decided to disclose all the information and explain what really happened. “Recently, the ANPCI – one of the two organizations of copyright collective management, has taken measures on blocking the AsDAC activity, in order not to look guilty in front of the copyright holders, because, unlike the Association, the ANPCI was not paying remunerations”, said Stroici. According to her, on the press conference from August 5, the ANPCI presented false information, aiming to create provocation and chaos in the field of copyright, as well as to mislead copyright holders, authors and singers from Moldova, as well as economic agents – users of the creations.

She added that “namely due to this the AsDAC decided to inform everyone about the current situation, mentioned in the publications and on the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) website.”

“The AsDAC has worked and will work, and we hope that the attempts of some people to transform the field of copyright in their own commercial activity by means of the Association elimination will be a failure”, said Stroici.

AsDAC lawyer Aroadna Dodi mentioned that “there were many speculations against AsDAC on the topic that a case has been allegedly initiated, but the Association calls it a lie”.

“The case, started in 2012 at the ANPCI request, was initiated on the alleged facts but not against the Association, the fact that is confirmed by the letter from the prosecutor’s office”, mentioned she.

According to the lawyer, “the Association was accused of illegal activity, of the fact that it has no right to issue licenses, but this is also a lie, an attempt to create chaos among the customers, to hinder collecting fees for authorship”.

“The legality of the Association activity and its right on issuing licenses is proved by its publication in Monitorul Oficial”, underlined the lawyer.

“As for distributing money for the authorship, this is impossible to do now, because the AsDAC accounts are under arrest”, said Dodi, adding that “the arrest is preliminary and is executed on the court decision after the ANPCI lawsuit”.

Association Deputy Chairperson Andrei Mamaliga said that the arrest aims to deliberately block the AsDAC activity.

He mentioned that since 2012 the Association underwent multiple inspections from different organizations, but no violations were identified.

According to him, the association has always performed its activity within the legal framework.

The press conference participants addressed to members of the association, authors and singers with a demand to support the AsDAC in this difficult period, to fight for justice together.

Infotag’s dossier: The Copyright and Related Rights Association (AsDAC) was created in 1999 by famous people in the field of culture. Currently, over 3 thousand people are its members.