Irregular registration of Paraguayan works in the U.S.: lawyer says author identified

A significant copyright dispute has emerged after a Paraguayan music publisher found hundreds of works by Paraguayan artists improperly registered in the United States. Apoha Music, which manages a catalog of foreign and Paraguayan works, discovered that 307 songs and compositions were registered under the name of Wilson Javier González.

Carlos Pavón, the legal representative for Apoha Music, stated that the issue came to light during an investigation into U.S. performing rights organizations in anticipation of the 2026 World Cup. While reviewing the public database of Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), Pavón noticed that several songs, including "Cada Día" by Emilio Napout (known as Miki Napout), were registered to González without a corresponding IPI number from Autores Paraguayos Asociados (APA).

The IPI (Interested Party Information) number is a unique identifier for rights holders across different collection societies. Pavón explained that the irregular registration was associated with BMI and the publisher SoundTrust, an entity with a history of copyright disputes. The only matching details for these registrations were the song titles and the performers, such as the Paraguayan band Kchiporros. Pavón noted that unlike APA, U.S. collection societies often require less documentation, which can facilitate such irregular registrations, sometimes even with non-existent author names. The publisher is now consulting with lawyers in the U.S. to determine the appropriate legal actions.

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Cada Día, I see that the song is registered in BMI in the name of a certain Wilson Javier González, registered in turn with BMI, it did not have an APA IPI number.