Kurdistan 24 to sue UAE official news agency for unauthorized use of intellectual property

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan 24 Company for Media and Research Ltd. on Monday announced its property rights had repeatedly been violated by the official Emirates News Agency (WAM), and that it would sue the agency.

For several months, the UAE news agency has been using Kurdistan 24’s exclusive newsroom theme for its coverage and news bulletins.

WAM owns a channel on YouTube that contains many videos with Kurdistan 24’s startup theme music.

The music was produced for the channel by famous Russian music producer Alexander Saloid, who has already produced many unique musical tracks for several local and international televisions, according to the Kurdistan 24 administration.

In November, Kurdistan 24 officially emailed WAM about copyright infringement, but they have not responded yet.

Kurdistan 24 tried to contact the official UAE agency but was unsuccessful. It was also not possible for Kurdistan 24 to reach out to the UAE Consulate officials in Erbil regarding the violations.

The copyright has also been violated by many other news agencies in the Middle East, including Syrian television stations and Yemeni networks as well as personal YouTube channels.

Kurdistan 24’s administration said the use of its property rights without prior permission would prompt them to take judicial action against violators.

Kurdistan 24 is a television and radio network that broadcasts news in the Kurdish language.

It also publishes reports on its website in different languages, including Kurdish (Sorani and Kurmanji dialects), English, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. 

Since it was launched in late October 2015, Kurdistan 24 has become a leading source of news for Kurdish-related topics and the fight against the Islamic State.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany