Article about Plagiarism in African Music.
ru...@removezeelandnet.nl
(Radio France International)
MUSICAL PLAGIARY
The Africans are no longer taking it lying down
African artists have begun defending themselves
against plagiary, albeit in only a very few cases.
This is because the overwhelming majority of
them lack the means, or take it as a fact of life.
On April 26 1998, Cotonou civil court ordered Bénin star
Angélique Kidjo to pay the sum of 10 million
CFA francs to Athanase Akpovi in damages for
plagiarism. Akpovi has decided to appeal. The
Kidjo v Akpovi case
began in 1991, when Angélique Kidjo brought out his
"Logozo" album, including several songs by the
traditional artist Athanase Akpovi, such as "Ani djo
makou", "Gnonnou non kpasse do gbea", and
Logozo do gbevi han". On the launching of the album,
she revealed that the track had been inspired by M.
Akpovi. "He is a great influence because I think his
way of talking about society's problems is simple and
effective". Other famous songs such as "Senyé" are
borrowed from Togo singer Bella Bellow, although
no mention is made of this artist. Questioned on
several occasions on this subject, Angélique Kidjo,
rather disturbingly, answered "I am often criticized for
singing other Africans' songs. But I think we don't
sing each others' songs enough. There are so many
beautiful African songs that are unknown and
disappear because nobody sings them. It is not
because I sing other people's songs that I am any less
worthy. The African public should support African
artists".
Remakes are common, in Africa and elsewhere, but
the law is clear on the subject, as Manu Dibango,
himself a memorable victim in 1984, points out. His
case of plagiarism was against Michael Jackson, who
"borrowed" 1 minute 17 of Dibango's hit "Soul
Makossa" without permission. Taken to court, the
American artist, who had sold 45 million albums
worldwide, had to pay up. "Bambi's" lawyers were
quick to make a hefty settlement out of court to avoid
bad publicity. Manu Dibango will never say how
much damages he received. "Today," he adds, "there
are some 50 versions of "Soul Makossa" in America,
Brazil or Japan. There are lots of people playing my
songs. But I play other people's songs too, those of
Franklin Boukaka, for instance. I even made a piano
record where I played "Bûcheron", but that doesn't
mean I signed it Manu Dibango. No, I put
'"Bûcheron", composed by Franklin Boukaka,
interpreted by Manu Dibango'. It's quite simple. If
you steal from an artist, its like stealing African art.
It's as if you had taken away the African heritage"
"Hot Koti" : big brother against little brother
Another famous victim of plagiarism is Loulou Gasté,
husband and composer of Line Renaud, the French
artiste. He is the author of many famous French hits,
such as "Ma Cabane au Canada" or "Le petit chien
dans la vitrine" (How Much is that doggy in the
window"). It was the track "Pour toi", written for the
film "Le feu aux poudres" by André Decoin and sung
by Dario Moreno, that put Gasté in the international
limelight. This was plagiarised by an obscure Brazilian
crooner, Moris Albert, under the name "Feelings",
and became an American classic. After eight years of
court battles in the United States, Loulou Gasté
obtained half a million dollars in damages and
recognition of his paternity of the song.
The decision to fight in the United States, with
American lawyers, was one also taken by Renaldo
Cerri, who published the Cameroon artist
André-Marie Tala. His song "Hot Koti" was
plagiarised by the high priest of soul in person, James
Brown. "I was horrified. James Brown had been to
Cameroon for a concert tour. André-Marie Tala,
who had just brought out an album with Decca, was
contacted by his "big brother", who owned a chain of
radio stations in the US, and offered promotion in the
United States. Some months later, the song came out
under James Brown's name. I could not bear the
thought of this being done to this poor blind artist who
was finding it hard to survive. I hired American
lawyers, because French law is useless against
Americans. The law in the US changes from state to
state and they play on that. If you don't get an
American lawyer, you lose.". After three years of
legal battles, André-Marie Tala obtained 15% of all
the royalties on the song.
But there are some who have never taken the slightest
action in court against plagiarism, and whose
plagiarised songs have become hits. Thus, Kenyan
artist Fundi Konde, who wrote "Malaïka", got no
royalties on all the remakes of it. Myriam Makeba,
who referred to "Malaika", which she sang on her
albums, as "a Tanzanian folk song", also plagiarised
Zimbabwe star Dorothy Masuka, who wrote "Pata
Pata", claiming in her autobiography that it had been
written by her daughter. But the most plagiarised
artist on the African continent is without doubt Rimitti,
the raï Granny, whose repertoire has been literally
pillaged by the young generation of chebs. "Because I
am illiterate and don't speak French, I am the ideal
victim. Many people have earned millions with my
songs. Every time I am amazed to find my songs on
other people's cassettes. If only they were grateful,
both men and women! There they are, prancing
around in posh suits and gold jewellery, thanks to
MY raï!"
There are still legions of African artists who, through
lack of means or ignorance of the legal procedures,
are resigned to being copied. But if more lawsuits
were won, maybe they would change their minds !
Sylvie Clerfeuille (MFI)