CAPTION STORY: GOSPEL star Pastor Charles Charamba has flexed his muscle against Zim dancehall singer Jah Signal over copyright infringement. Apparently, Jah Signal unbeknown to himself sampled Pastor Charamba’s hit Kana Vanhu Vangu without permission and used the lyrics on his chart topper Sweetie which hit Six million views and counting on YouTube, Following the complaint by Pastor Charamba, the song was consequently pull down on YouTube channel bringing Jah Signal to ground zero. Jah Signal is one of the few musicians to face the music and his action have serious legal and ethical consequences considering it is not easy to generate the same views within the shortest space of time.
Willis Wataffi commented: Sadly, the writers up here try to justify its illegality by stating how many views it had. A wrong is a wrong. You cannot plagiarize someone’s music and hope to get away with it,”
United Kingdom based music critic and theatre practitioner Enisia Mashusha said: “Willis Wataffi I here you , there is need to respect the creators, artists pour their creativity and hard work into their music. Seeking permission acknowledges their ownership and shows respect for their right.”
Marsjall Shonhai commented: “I’m surprised it took 6 years to do this. I don’t understand why people are mad and throwing their toys out of their coatbeds. There are many other local songs that should be struck by copyright law as well. You can’t just take another artiste’s song and do as you please with it. There are laws against that regardless of our ignorance of the fact.
“I will give an example Some time in 2021, singer and songwriter
“Tracy Chapman sued rapper Nicki Minaj saying in a 2018 lawsuit that Minaj’s song “Sorry,” a collaboration with Nas, used both the lyrics and vocal melody from one of Chapman’s songs, “Baby Can I Hold You,” which was released in 1988.
“According to Chapman’s suit, Minaj’s team sent a formal request in July 2018 to use Chapman’s song, noting that Minaj intended to “interpolate” Chapman’s work (that is, rerecord the melody and lyrics of the song, rather than sample Chapman’s existing recording). Chapman’s publishing representatives turned down the request days later. According to the suit, Chapman believes that Minaj had already recorded “Sorry” before the clearance request was made. The song leaked anyway.
“Tracy won the lawsuit and Nicki paid her almost half a million US Dollars before going to trial.”
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