Nigerian Musician, Danny Young, is still upholding his decision to sue the Mavin first lady, Tiwa Savage, over copyright infringement. Although many music fans have opined that the case may be crucial to correcting the ills of the industry, others have tried to persuade Danny Young to settle the case out of court.
During an interview with newsmen, Danny was quick to mention that his decision to sue Tiwa for two hundred million naira is absolutely not because he wanted to take her money. Instead, he merely wants artists in the industry to learn to do the right things as far as copyright laws are concerned.
He stated, “I wish that Nigerians would stop treating this issue of copyright violation with levity. A lot of people don’t understand how this thing works. They don’t even know the value of their copyright. It is no fault of theirs, though. It is because many artists have been infringing other people’s copyright. Now everybody thinks it is a normal thing to do in Nigeria. Some people even think it is wrong to complain.”
Danny equally mentioned that he was particularly baffled because Tiwa Savage and Mavin Records had not contacted him in any way whatsoever to discuss the issue.
He said, “I reached out to them through my lawyer. When I found that Tiwa had infringed my copyright, the first thing I did was to make a video in which I expressed my displeasure with what she did. I had to do this because she gave somebody else the credit for my own song. I don’t want to mention the person’s name because I have no business with him.
“All she needed to do was simply reach out to me and apologize for her action because I am the originator of that content. But she didn’t. She ignored me and made it seem as if I was talking nonsense. I felt really bad about it.”
Danny young reiterated that there was no doubt about the fact that Tiwa used some of the lines in his popular song, “Oju ti tiwon” adding that the song made the headlines and topped music charts in 2009 when he released it. He further explained that such infringements had almost become the usual practice in the country and it was even sadder that the culprits are always the experienced artists in the industry.
“The person I have an issue with was educated abroad and she is experienced. I am sure that she understands what it means to violate another person’s copyright. If people like her disobey the copyright law or continue to infringe other people’s copyright, it means that they know what they are doing. It also means that they deliberately do it because this is Nigeria and they expect that nobody will challenge them. But this is wrong.
“We are in a music industry that is growing and we intend to go higher in the future. This cannot be achieved if copyright laws are flagrantly disobeyed. I believe the artist’s copyright is the only right that he has. He is also supposed to make money from his copyright, even after he has retired from music.
“So when other people keep abusing his copyright, at the end of the day it means that he has been in music for nothing. It is just like building a house without having a certificate of occupancy. This cannot continue in Nigeria,” he lamented.
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