Protect your interests

Local musician Frederick Shitana, popularly known as Lt Shitana, was recently arrested for police impersonation, extortion and theft. His arrest was the talk of the town, on social media and at social gatherings. If you take a look at it from a law enforcement angle, it was wrong for him to impersonate the police. If you look at it from the entertainment and arts side, he was right to demand payment from the shebeen owners who play his pirated music - which is illegal.

I am not here to pass judgement or comment on Shitana's behaviour nor do I want to defend his actions but, I do understand why he did what he did and got arrested. What should an artist do when he does not have a body or union that protects his interests? When people pirate your music or art and make a profit from it while you do not even get a cent from it, what do you do? How should an artist react when many of his or her calls to have some sort of protection or control of their music are not heard?

For many years now, many Namibian artists have had issues with people who have access to their music illegally and make profit from it. These artists I am speaking about hardly make money from royalties even though Nascam receives royalties on behalf of the artists. Our artists shed their blood, sweat and tears to come up with amazing content but some business owners do not appreciate that and thus continue to pirate and make profit from our artists' hard work without paying them for the benefit. Drastic action has to be taken to open up the debate with regards to how Namibian artists' intellectual property is treated. Nascam has not even released a statement about the issue and it shows where their interest lies when it comes to the bread-and-butter issues that affect our musicians. Shitana has previously approached authorities to assist him and many other artists with regards to the illegal distribution of Namibian music in shebeens and implying that Namibian artists are not taken seriously in their own backyard. In order to be taken seriously, Shitana had to pretend he was a police officer to get what is rightfully his. Sadly though, I think Shitana's effort might not bear fruit.

What our artists need to do now is to stand up for their art. They need to take more control of their intellectual property and make sure it is not abused as is the status quo is at the moment. A body or organisation that protects artists' rights must be established so that artists do not resort to unlawful means in order to claim what is rightfully theirs. As fans, we need to support artists buying their music and products. We all need to work towards a goal that benefits the artists businesses and the entire nation.



June Shimuoshili



[email protected]