Be copy right, not copycat!

Hope Masike and Alexio Gwenzi-Copyright Academy

Much as it has existed for decades now, it remains very sensitive to trade trends which naturally get affected by technological advancements and many other variables.

Be that as it may, ignorantia juris non excusat (ignorance is not an acceptable reason for breaking the law), if one infringes on a musician’s copyright, the law will take its course, which may lead to grave consequences.

To avoid this, here are some easy points to remember every time you get inspired by music.

In music there can be a thin line between inspiration or influence and infringement.

When one hears something that inspires them, meaning something that moves emotions in them, it is good, influence then follows, which is the express thing that moves them to create their own music.

At this point it is important to be sure that one is not influenced to do exactly the same as what which inspired them.

In music, it is very easy to be inspired and influenced to create the exact same chord progression for instance, perhaps only changing the instruments, or using a different tempo, and different lyrics.

This can very easily be infringement of someone else’s copyright especially where that chord progression is intricate or openly unique.

An example of sameness of chord progression can be seen in the introductory parts of John Chibadura’s songs, “Zuva rekufa kwangu” and “Mudiwa Janet.”

Someone who is not very familiar with both songs can be forgiven for interchanging their lyrics.

This is imitation of a chord progression which in this case was perfectly legal as both songs were the same musician’s creative work.

Infringement can also occur when a mere instrument line sounds similar to another from even an old song. One popular example is the 90s hit song “Ice Ice Baby”.

The funky bass line was said to be similar to the 1981 song “Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Queen. In the end Vanilla Ice paid both parties royalties in order to avoid a court case. The songs in question were nearly completely different, except for the bass lines.

Another form of infringement may happen when one gets inspired/influenced by someone’s music and creates a melody that is exactly the same or nearly the same.

An example of this is how the phrases in the first verse of ‘Adele’s “Million Years Ago” start with the exact same notes as Mariah Carey’s “My All.”

Understandably, some listeners have been pointing this out, with others likening it to Brazilian samba song “Mulheres,” while others are saying the melody is from “The Phantom of the Opera”.

Lastly, another form of infringement is when one copies the lyrics from another song, then sings them in a different melody or a whole different song.

One may even write a totally different song, then sing five words from another song, in the same sequence.

An illustration of the above is DJ Ngwazi’s “True Love” which have lyrics and melody that are exactly the same as Busi Ncube’s original song of the same name.

In this case, DJ Ngwazi correctly sought permission for usage from Busi Ncube.

These seemingly same aspects of music are not in black and white. After all, there are only eight notes in the conventional scale, so just as Ecclesiastics says, surely there cannot be anything new on earth. Songs can sometimes sound the same by mere coincidence or common ancestry.