By Tofarati Ige
Controversial critic, Etcetera, has accused his one-time colleagues, P-Square, 2face, D’banj, Cobhams Asuquo, Terry G and Banky W, among others, of copyright theft, and poignantly asked for when they would be punished.
In an article posted on his website, titled ‘When will P-Square and others pay for their crimes’, Etcetera lamented the lawlessness in the music industry and wondered why many artistes have not been punished for their intellectual crimes.
The article reads in part: “After Robin Thicke’s hit Blurred Lines permeated American popular culture early 2013, questions were raised about the originality of the song, particularly the composition in the background and the rhythm section. The Gaye estate, which represents the late Marvin Gaye’s two children, Frankie and Nona, sued Thicke for his song on the grounds that it sounded too similar to Gaye’s 1977 hit Got to Give It Up.
“Robin Thicke is being choked right now by the long arm of the American law for $7.3 million.
“This is something that has been considered a non-issue in Nigeria for decades and still counting. The likes of P-Square, Tuface, Cobhams Asuquo, Terry G, Sammy Okposo, Davido, Sean Tizzle, Banky W, etc. have committed various forms of copyright infringement and the fact that nobody has been made to pay for this wicked act in Nigeria is still a mystery…the reality is that it’s fairly easy to make songs that sound like other songs and make other artistes upset because they feel like their art is being capitalised on.
“The issue with Nigerian artists is that most of the songs have more than just rhythm in common. In many cases, artistes have lifted both lyrics and melodies of other songs. If this madness doesn’t stop, talented Nigerian artists will continue to beg to put food on their table.
“If this doesn’t explain why Majek Fashek was seen begging at Maryland bus stop a couple of weeks back, then I wonder what does.”
