Entertainment Lifestyle 

LOCAL FIRMS DELETE JERUSALEM CHALLENGE

Some local companies yesterday panicked after speculation
that South African musician, Master KG’s was suing companies that infringed his
copyright by conducting the Jerusalema challenge.

The song which trended last year and put the musician on
the international map, saw many people and companies joining the challenge.

His associates, Warner Music, have written to many
organisations in Germany demanding license fees amounting to several thousand
euros in some cases, according to Focus Weekly News Magazine.

Warner Music Group Corp, (WMG) is an American multinational
entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City.

It is one of the “big three” recording companies and the
third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group and
Sony Music Entertainment.

What then does this entail for Zimbabweans that took up the
Jerusalema challenge?

So popular is the challenge that revellers from as far as
Spain, Jamaica, England, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana and France joined the
challenge.

Even international celebrities like footballer Cristiano
Ronaldo and singer Janet Jackson were among those who did the challenge. Back
home, corporates and individuals, are on the list.

Those targeted are the ones who did not acknowledge
copyright. Ironically Master KG himself twitted and retweetted some of the
videos.

Members of the public who used the song for a bit of fun do
not have to worry too much, but those who used it for their own endorsements
are in for a rude awakening.

Surprisingly, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was
quoted on September 16 2020, saying; “There can be no better way to celebrate
our South Africanness than joining the global phenomenon that is spreading
across the world, and that is the Jerusalema dance challenge. So I urge all of
you to take up this challenge.”

With that in mind, many people took up the challenge. On
the social media, the challenge amassed over 300 million views on YouTube.

According to EyeWitnessNews, Warner International sent
royalty invoices to various video owners in Germany, sparkingan outcry on
social media and it caused panic.

“The music giant charged various German government entities
for using the song in their versions of the challenge,”.

Eyewitness News spoke to Dumisani Motsamai, an
entertainment lawyer who is in charge of the legal and business affairs for
Open Mic Productions — that’s Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode’s record label.

He said some people took the challenge for their own gains.
“We have followed the news that Warner, our partners internationally, has
actually been taken to task by many people on social media saying ‘you guys are
being greedy, we are doing this thing because of social [distancing], we are
all down because of Covid-19’, and I think it’s quite on point.

“But there have been different versions of this challenge.
There are situations where a child and their family are in their living room
and they are doing the challenge, or they are outside and doing the challenge.

“That’s perfectly fine. But we have seen these challenges
taking it a little bit too far. What has been happening here is that people
have been pushing their brands,” he said.

Back home a survey conducted revealed that some local
companies panicked and immediately pulled down their videos.

The debate raged on social media. Local Intellectual
property lawyer Brenda Matanga wrote on her Twitter account, where she
highlighted some copyright infringement complications.

She even warned that Warner Music are not yet done claiming
the license fees from participants of the challenge, and said that the
liberties that people once enjoyed with the challenge may have finally come to
an end.

“In October last year,we shared our article about the
copyright infringement implications of the worldwide Jerusalema challenge,
where we gave a warning that the unlicensed use of copyright would not go on
for long.”

“…the global audience has been granted an open license of
Jerusalema song and only in 2020 can the world freely share, dance and record
themselves whilst they are at it. Be careful though, those liberties will not
be extended…” she said.

However, contacted for comment some local companies professed
ignorance over Master KG’s moves.

Some said that the musician will create enemies globally
resulting in his music played only in South Africa. Herald


Sourced From Nigerian Music

Related posts