Jazz musos fight over copyright
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday January 28, 2024 06:00
In an interview with Arts&Culture, Garogwe said he was surprised to get a call from Boleseng who accused him of stealing intros of his two songs titled Music Sung by the Lord and Pelo Yame infusing them into his song titled, Se Bolae Mosadi. However, Garogwe claims to have long released his song in 2013 while Boleseng released his album encompassing the above-mentioned songs last year.
Garogwe also said he was the one whose song copyrights were infringed by Boleseng claiming to have long registered his songs with COSBOTS and having a Certificate of Accreditation As A Profound Producer, which he submitted a copy to this publication. He took the matter to COSBOTS where he also wrote them a notice letter of copyright infringement.
He stated that there was no way he could have stolen Boleseng’s songs intros but rather felt his own work was stolen. He added that after meeting COSBOTS board, they promised to call him back to meet up with Boleseng and determine how the matter could be resolved amicably. “COSBOTS admitted to having received the documents.
They assured me that they are in progress with the plan of action which is mostly to do with finding out if indeed there is infringement. They are yet to call Boleseng to come forward and submit his documents. The issue at hand is that his album that was released in 2023 is in the archives. They received it from him.
He had not submitted the certificate of holograms but they are waiting for him to do so. This is a serious case that would not take a month to be closed on. They are hoping Boleseng will come forward and submit his supporting documents. If he does not, the matter will be taken before CIPA for arbitration, which will be more like litigation,” he added. On the other hand, Boleseng admitted to having called Garogwe after someone sent him his song, Se Bolae Mosadi and he was shocked to hear intros of his songs used in the song. He said he immediately called him and told him that he was not happy that he (Garogwe) used his work without asking for permission. He added that he thought after contacting Garogwe, they would resolve the issue peacefully without making a scene but was surprised when he learnt that Garogwe has written a press release as well to COSBOTS.
“I am an elder and I do not have the energy to be fighting with young men. I thought after calling Garogwe he would come and apologise so that we reach an agreement and move on but he responded otherwise. I will not let him walk away with this because this is not the first time he has done this to fellow artists. I have worked on these songs and released them in 2020 but I released the whole album last year. They have long been playing on radio and I have a feeling that Garogwe somehow edited his songs and added my work into it. This cannot be a coincidence,” he said.
Boleseng added that since he helped a lot of upcoming artists and even allowed others to use some of his songs if Garogwe was remorseful they would talk and let it slide but because of his behaviour, he would not do so. He added that one of the intros was his signature as he uses it in most of his songs more especially during live performances. He also said he took the matter before CIPA but unfortunately was told that the Arbitration Panel was not yet functional and advised to take the matter before court. He, however, said he was told that if his case would not be tried by the time the panel is functional, they would look into the matter.