John Kariuki
12 April 2008
Nairobi — After celebrating one of the most enduring fairy tales in the Kenyan music history, Orch Super Mazembe and their long-time recording company, AI Records, could be headed for the courts to seek legal arbitration over the ownership of rights to works the group did in the 1980s.
The parties are trading accusations of breach of contract and unethical behaviour.
At the centre of the fallout is the release of the remix album, Greatest Hits Remixes, featuring new versions of some of the group's earlier hits, which is being distributed through the Sound Africa label.
AI Records claims the album is in breach of a contract signed in 1983, which gave the company exclusive rights to all the music and the sound recordings done by Maazembe within the duration of the agreement.
All the rights
"We own all the rights, and nobody can do anything with the songs without our express authority," says Mike Andrews, the AI managing director.
Andrews has written to Sound Africa asking that the album and all revenue from sales so far be surrendered.
In the meantime, his company has frozen all royalties owed Mazembe from sales of the group's past releases that are covered in the AI contract until the current feud is resolved.
They include sales of The Giants of East Africa, which has had an amazing revival overseas .
The album was first issued in the early 1980s and it became a major hit in East and central Africa, but fizzled out, only to rebound on the overseas charts in the late 90s where it peaked to No. 2 on the Sterns African music charts.
But Mazembe leader Kasongo wa Kanema scoffs at Andrews' claims, saying that his band owns the copyright to the songs and will pursue the rights to the logical conclusion.
"We would not have been so naïve as to sell our copyrights, and we are not going to be intimidated," he adds.
He points out that, in any case, two of the songs, Kasongo and Wana Mazembe, which are in the new album, were not produced through AI, and that the company acquired them from EMI in a distribution agreement between AI and Olouch Kanindo, an EMI senior official at the time.
Kasongo features in the American comedy movie, Phat Galz, released in the US late last year, and this is another headache for Mazembe who claim that the song was used without their consent and was not paid for.
US contacts
The band is pursuing the matter through US contacts.
But Andrews denies the ownership claims, saying that the songs were covered in the 1983-86 contracts signed after the expiry of the initial three year deal between his company and the group.
He says his company has commissioned all the recordings Mazembe did within that duration of the contract, hence his claim to the rights.
Says Andrews: "We probably would have allowed them to re-do the songs, but it would have required that they do not use the same music or voices on the recording".
He also claims that the new release, which has already made a chart entry overseas, has eaten into the The Giants of East Africa's sales, subjecting him to losses on the album.
David Makali of Sound Africa says there are grey areas in AI's claims that will have to be verified by legal experts before the issue can be resolved. Until then his company intends to keep the new album in the market.
He adds that he had asked AI for a copy of the contract with Mazembe, but the page sent to him was vague on the rights ownership and does not expressly mention outright rights ownership.
"I'm not sure that an artiste can be denied rights to re-do their own songs, and even if AI Records has the sound recording rights, what we have are new studio recordings and there is no breach at that level."
But clearly the row is opening a can of worms. Last week, Andrews complained that two former Mazembe members had been to his office to complain that they had not received royalties from the past sales despite his company remitting all past royalties in line with the contract.
Kasongo has been collecting the payments and it is his duty to distribute them to other members, he adds.
"I have asked for a meeting in my office with the entire line-up of surviving members to prove that I do not owe anything," says Andrews.
But Makali sees the twist as an attempt to deflect the issue of the new release, and say the two are not related.
"I don't see what the relevance is, and that is a matter entirely between the members," he adds.
Case of sour grapes
Kasongo says the issue AI has raised over the new release is case of sour grapes, and that the record company is just a victim of its own failing.
He adds that that all the versions of the songs in the remix album have been at AI for over a year and the firm did nothing with them and is only reacted after they were released by another company.
"We first gave the music to them, but AI Records did not seem to think much of it and are only reacting now because it is selling," he argues.
"It's nothing to do with contract; it's sheer jealousy".
He said the group owns all the rights to their music, and that failure to resolve the issue will lead to legal action.
Andrews is equally emphatic that Mazembe have to learn to respect record contracts, saying: "Too bad if they did not understand what they signed," he adds.
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