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Langalakhe Mabena
OF late, Zimbabwean high profile artistes have been at each other’s throats over music copyrights with the major battle being that Charles Charamba and Jah Signal.
A basic understanding and respect for copyright laws would eliminate clashes among artistes.
Music copyright is the entitlement of legal ownership of a musical composition or sound recording.
This ownership includes exclusive rights to redistribute and reproduce the work, as well as licensing rights that enable the copyright holder to earn royalties.
If one owns music, they have the power to dictate how their material can be used, even in the future, in cases of other artistes intending to do a remix or sample lyrics and melody from the owner’s original composition.
Jah Signal’s Sweetie (Shinga Muroora) song borrowed heavily from the lyrics of Charamba’s 2011 hit song Kana Vanhu Vangu.
Another “cold war” was witnessed in the case of Zim Dancehall giant Winky D and Kenako music (Oskid and Tamuka) over the copyrights of the gaffer’s Eureka album.
After being threatened with copyright infringement by Kenako Music, Winky D went on to pull down all songs from the album on YouTube.
In the two cases, the chaos surrounds compositional copyright which covers an underlying musical composition, the arrangement of notes, melodies and chords in a specific order.
This kind of music copyright is held by songwriters, lyricists and composers, and they are managed by their music publishers (who also partially own the copyright).
B-Metro caught up with seasoned blogger and music expert Plot Mhako of Earground who outlined the importance of music copyrights.
He said copyright is crucial in music as it protects the intellectual property of creators, including songwriters, composers and performers.
“Copyrights grant artistes (involved in the composition process) exclusive rights to control how their work is used, allowing them to earn royalties when their music is played or sold.
“It prevents unauthorised copying or distribution of their work and controls derivative works like remixes or adaptations. This protection incentivises music creation, ensuring fair compensation and fostering a thriving music industry.
“Lack of awareness is the major cause of copyright battles as many artistes may not fully understand copyright law or the extent of their rights. Unregistered or undocumented works are vulnerable to infringement,” said Mhako.
As hard as it may sound, Mhako said, the music copyright issue is easy to master, allowing artistes to avoid unnecessary fights.
“Local artistes can avoid copyright clashes by educating and familiarising themselves with copyright law and best practices.
“Locally, the first step is to register their music with the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura) for legal protection. They can also consult with an intellectual property lawyer before using copyrighted material.
“Securing licences from copyright holders before using their work in any way, also helps. For example, if an artiste wants to incorporate a melody from a popular song, they should obtain permission from the original composer and potentially the performer and record label.
“If Jah Signal followed these steps Baba Charamba would have never reported Sweetie for copyright infringement,” said Mhako.
In genres like gospel, maskandi, tshibilika and even sungura, traditional or religious melodies are often used to come up with new songs.
However, one has to research the origin to determine if the work is in the public domain or has identified copyright holders.
After doing this thorough research, the artiste is reminded that it’s important to seek permission to do a remix or sample from the original composer. If copyright holders exist, it’s even wiser to obtain their green light before using the material.
New-age artistes are having a tough time in coming up with fresh ideas when composing music, hence, they revert to sampling.
Sampling involves using portions of another artiste’s recording in a new creation. This can be legal, but permission and proper licensing are crucial to avoid copyright infringement.
Mhako said to sample another artiste’s song, one has to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) of the original recording, typically the artiste, record label or music publisher and negotiate a licensing agreement to define the terms of use, including royalties and attribution.
“This can be achieved by following any specific legal requirements associated with sampling in Zimbabwe and Zimura, Aripo are some of the organisations to contact,” he said.
Online Reporter