As Ukraine celebrated Independence Day on Aug. 24, famous Ukrainian popular musicians took to the stage and performed in the center of Kyiv.
But that seemingly normal performance caused a scandal after some Ukrainian bands realized their songs were used without their permission.
Called the “Song History of Modern Ukraine,” the performance took place on Sofiivska Square in Kyiv’s downtown after President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech.
Read more: Ukraine celebrates 29 years of independence
Nineteen popular Ukrainian musicians took part in the show and performed excerpts from the most popular songs in Ukrainian history. They included pop star Monatik; famous singers Ruslana and Jamala, the winners of the Eurovision song contest in 2004 and 2016; pop icons Oleg Vynnyk and Pavlo Zibrov, singers Tina Karol, Nina Matvienko, Iryna Bilyk, Oleksandr Ponomarev and many more.
The entire performance included 42 songs and lasted nearly 17 minutes.
But celebration turned to scandal when representatives of such groups as hip-hop and rock band Boombox, pop-rock band Okean Elzy, whose leader is former lawmaker Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, and rock group Tartak said they were not asked for permission for their songs to be used during the performance.
“No, we did not give permission to use a song or a fragment of any song at the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine. No, we were not invited to perform and, yes, we would have refused,” Oleksii Sohomonov, the CEO of Boombox, wrote on Facebook.
A part of Boombox’s most popular song ,“Vakhteram,” was used during the show. It was performed by another pop band, Vremya i Steklo (“Time and Glass” in English).
The Kyiv Post requested a comment from Katya Tsarik, the director of the performance, but she did not respond by publication time.
Ukrainian news site Hromadske reported that Boombox will not sue the organizers for using their song without permission.
Okean Elzy’s manager, Viktoriia Khomenko, wrote in a Facebook post that no one even contacted the band to ask for permission to use their song.
“Independence is freedom, respect for oneself and for others, including their rights. Seems so banal and clear? Not to everyone,” Khomenko wrote in a Facebook post.
“Ukraine is Europe. Europe is respect for rights, including copyrights,” reads the post on Okean Elzy’s official Facebook account.
Ukrainian pop singers perform on Aug. 24, 2020 at Sofiivska Square in Kyiv to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Oleksandr Polozhynskyi, the former leader of Tartak, also confirmed the band’s song was used without permission.
There has been no official response from the President’s Office or the performance’s organizers.
However, the music show was not the only part of the Independence Day celebrations.
Later that day, tens of thousands of veterans and activists took part in the March of Defenders of Ukraine, an alternative event where the participants marched from Shevchenko Park to Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square.
The march was led by relatives of people killed during the EuroMaidan Revolution and while fighting against Russia’s proxies in the Donbas. Hundreds of people came with flags and flowers to Khreshchatyk, the capital’s main avenue, to show their support to the veterans.
