Caiphus Semenya faced heaps of backlash for seemingly gunning after AKA‘s estate over a copyright claim. However, a closer look at the sensitive situation and the assistance of music laws in South Africa may shed more light on the jazz legend’s precarious position.
Caiphus Semenya wants his royalties: Is he wrong?
Earlier this week, Sunday World published an explosive story on Semenya’s bid to reclaim at least 50% of publishing royalties from all monetary proceeds accrued from the commercial performance of the late rapper’s songs, where he was sampled without prior consent.
From what we understand, the iconic Angelina composer first took issue with AKA’s unauthorised interpolations when he sampled Matswale on the smash hit single Caiphus Song from Touch My Blood (2018).
According to Semenya, he and AKA met at Universal Music SA headquarters in Johannesburg a year after the song released and hashed out their differences, with the rapper vowing to sort out his affairs and follow due course in clearing the copyrighted works.
However, Caiphus Song was never cleared, at least not before AKA’s tragic passing. Semenya’s frustrations were further compounded when he discovered some of his material was used on the late rapper’s Diary (Anxiety) song that appears on Mass Country, without prior consent.
“These guys are young, they have to learn that this is business, they have to do things the right way. They must do what is correct,” Semenya told the publication.
Is the penalty AKA’s to pay? – Here’s what Copyright laws in South Africa say
Semenya’s bid for what’s due unto him drew ire from fans of the late rapper. For the most part, most commenters were perturbed by the jazz legend’s ill-timed pursuit, considering AKA’s tragic death is the subject of an intensive double homicide investigation.
Moreover, it’s important to highlight, however, that the Nomalanga composer has, for the most part, taken up the issue with Sony Music Africa, AKA’s distributor, and this is very important for several reasons.
The most obvious is closely tied to the rapper’s deal with the major record label.
From our research, it seems the Company star was either signed to a pressing and distribution deal, or a production agreement. The former, according to Justia, is a direct deal with a music distributor to manufacture and distribute an artist’s products (CDs) on their behalf for a cut of 15-25% while the artist is responsible for funding their own recordings, marketing, public relations, and promotions.
On the other hand, a production deal is an agreement between the artist and the production house, in this case Vth Season, where the latter pays for the recording costs and then seeks out record labels to find a licensing deal for the artist. What’s in it for the production house? Well, in most cases a 50/50 split on all recording income.
If the signed artist is accused of copyright infringement in South Africa, it would depend on whether the infringement occurred as a result of the production entity’s actions or the artist’s actions.
If the infringement was due to the production entity’s actions, such as using unauthorised samples in the manufacturing process, the production entity could be held liable for copyright infringement.
If the infringement was due to the artist’s actions, such as using copyrighted material in their own recordings without permission, then the artist would be liable for copyright infringement.
For example, let’s say an artist signs a pressing and distribution deal with a production entity in South Africa. The production entity manufactures and distributes the artist’s album, taking a 25% distribution fee.
If the artist samples a copyrighted musical work without obtaining the proper permissions and is subsequently sued for copyright infringement, they would be liable for any penalties or damages awarded in the lawsuit.
The production entity would not be liable unless they were found to have been complicit in the infringement.
This early into Semenya’s pursuit, it remains unclear where the burden of the infringement lies between AKA’s estate, Vth Season and the distributor, Sony Music Africa.“It’s not only my music that I want young people to embrace, but people like Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa are among the kind of musicians who’ve made timeless music. When done properly, the young people can do amazing things with the music left for them,” Semenya said.