Mtando wa tigo umepigwa faini na mahakama ya sh.bilion 2.18 kuwalipa wasainii A.Y.MwanaFA.soma zaid.

A court has awarded two Tanzanian
musicians Sh2.18 billion in special
damages in a landmark ruling that could
set a precedent in the application of the
copyright law in the country.
The huge award was won by Bongo flava
artistes Ambwene Yessaya “AY” and
Hamisi Mwinjuma “MwanaFA” who had
sued mobile phone company MIC
Tanzania (Tigo), for unauthorised use of
their music as caller tunes. A caller tune
is a tone that is in the form of music that
is heard by a person making a call as
they wait for the person being called to
answer the phone.
Ilala Senior Resident Magistrate Juma
Hassan granted the award on April 11
after a four-year court battle between the
parties. The award also includes a
separate Sh25 million in general
damages.
News of the fine against Tigo only came
to light this week on Tuesday when the
firm went to the High Court to block the
execution of the award pending its
appeal. History in the copyright field
would be made should the High Court
uphold the judgement by the Ilala District
Court.
MwanaFA said it was time those who had
in the past taken the basic copyright laws
for granted realised that things have
changed.
“This is a key moment in copyright in
Tanzania. This is something that has
been happening for quite a long time now
mainly because of lack of knowledge and
maybe because of the costs associated
with such cases,” he said.
He added: “Nobody is supposed to use
your work without your permission or
agreement and if at all he has benefited
then he is supposed to share with you
according to the price tag you have set
for your work.”
The mobile network operator has,
however, filed for a stay of execution and
has appealed against the judgment and
decree for payment at the High Court. The
appeal was initially set to be heard on
Tuesday but was adjourned to tomorrow.
The artistes claim that Tigo sold without
permission in the form of caller tunes
content that belonged to them without any
agreement between the two parties. The
two songs at the centre of the
controversy are Dakika Moja and Usije
Mjini, which were both done in
collaboration by AY and MwanaFA.
Although there are no figures that were
mentioned by both sides on the precise
income derived from the sale of the two
songs, the two artistes believe the
company generated revenue.
According to the judgment, the artistes
did not have any agreement with anyone
to distribute the songs, they did not have
an agreement with the defendant (Tigo)
and neither did they contract a third party
to handle this kind of distribution on their
behalf.
The court in its decree states that the
defendant infringed the rights of the
plaintiffs over their registered joint
authorship of musical work and in the
process infringed the copyright and/or
neighbourhood rights to which civil
remedies are applicable.
The court, therefore, ordered the company
to pay Sh 5 million as general damages
and Sh2.16 billion as special damages in
addition to the costs of the suit.
The artistes had in their application asked
for damages totalling Sh4.3 billion,
claiming that the defendant had generated
a significant sum of income through the
sale of their two songs to its subscribers
across the country.
In recent years, mobile phone operators
have been at the centre of a controversy
over how much they pay artistes for using
their content, with some singers claiming
they were not benefiting from their work.
Customised mobile phone caller tunes in
Tanzania are largely songs by Bongo
Flava artistes.
According to the Journal of Intellectual
Property Law and Practice, copyright
subsisting in caller tunes and ringtones is
similar to copyright protection in any
other musical recording, comprising an
underlying musical work and a sound
recording which are protected under the
Copyright Act.
This type of copyright protection in
Tanzania is similar to those in South
Africa, the United Kingdom, the United
States and Jordan.
Source.jamii forums.