Hands off,

An upset Lieutenant Freddy Shitana released his album recently but told tjil sales were not going well although his music was playing everywhere.

“People want to make quick cash from musicians,” he said.

Musician, Shitana is one of Namibia''s local musos who is very vocal on social media about copyright violation when it comes to his property - the music he produces. Shitana says he noticed something different when he released his second album ''Konima yonguto ihaku hondamwa'' in October.

“I printed about 1 000 copies and usually I would sell more than 700 in the first batch, but this time, it didn''t happen as I only managed to sell 450 copies.

“This was very strange for me because here I have a box full of copies of my album but I find my music playing in every second bar in Katutura and other towns and villages. So my question was, how is that possible?” he said.

During an annual general meeting with the Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (Nascam), Shitana and other artists raised the issue of copyright violation and what possible avenues there are for reprive.

The artists'' point is that they pour so much time, energy and money into making music and it is unfair that people think it is okay to pirate their music and benefit from their hard work.

The CEO of Nascam John Max told the artists to do an investigation to catch the guilty parties and that he will help.

“Young T just released his album on 18 November and it wasn''t even a week on the market and it was pirated.

“It''s unfortunate because he doesn''t even taste his money. I suggested a strategy and they cooperated.

“The Namibian police force has been helpful and we hope we continue working together in the future,” said John Max.



Investigation

Shitana and his colleagues went around Evelyn Street and requested bar owners to show them the album covers of the music that playing in the juke boxes.

Shitana says there were pirated copies in half of the bars which was upsetting because some owners refused to tell them their music sources.

“Depending on how they cooperate, we levied penalties on them. Those that cooperated paid less because even if one genuinely didn''t know that it is wrong to copy someone''s work or own copied work they still need to pay a fine so they don''t repeat it,” said Shitana.

On the last day of the investigation he found a bar owner who paid his fine for having illegal music and gave them his source of music.

Shitana got himself a memory card and started going to copy shops pretending to be a juke box owner who was seeking music for his bar. He was told to go to Greenwell because bar owners get their music from there.

“My colleague whom I sent into the copy shop was able to get both my albums and those from other artists. He was referred to another branch where he would be able to get the album covers printed in colour.

He was given more music with a receipt that I took to the police station,” said Shitana.

The artists met on Friday 25 November with the Max at the Wanaheda police station. Shitana repeated the same drill but this time with the police with them.

Just as the shop assistant was transferring the music, the police come in and took him away demanding that the owner of the shop meet them at the station. The artists separately laid charges against the company Exclusive Classic Computer CC.

“The owner was not aware of the evidence we had and when he came in he accused us of unfairly shutting his shop down until we showed him what we had.

“He was really behaving badly it even got brutal,” said Shitana. Company owner, Salom Tangeni and his employer Petrus Immanuel were arrested.

Shitana said Tangeni called him to negotiate on a penalty payment but refused. “He said he knew that what he did was wrong and that he had a nice offer for me so we should work things out by me dropping the case.

“I told him I lose out on so much because I make albums that don''t sell because of people like him. He will have to face the law,” said Shitana told tjil.

When contacted, Exclusive Classic Computer cc owner Tangeni denied having contacted Shitana. He told Namibian Sun, “Obviously this is very wrong but I was not aware that this was going on in my shop. I won''t feel well if it were my work being copied.

“I don''t know Shitana and I didn''t call him at all. The artists are using my name in vain but I''m solving the issue with my lawyer,” he said.

Shitana said people who sell illegal music are making money off his work and that of other artists.

“There are some that walk with their laptops and already printed covers and there are those that buy pirated albums and give to their friends. I am warning juke box owners, taxi drivers and everyone who has my music illegally that I will be making turns unannounced. If found with pirated music you will pay a fine of N$10 000 or I will take the whole juke box,” concluded Shitana.

Investigations continue.