Kenyan gospel artist pastor Anthony Musembi has found himself in trouble with Tuku music, the custodians of late Zimbabwe music icon Oliver Mtukudzi music and composition rights after using some elements of the song ' Todii' by the late Mtukudzi.
Pastor Musembi released a rendition of the song with the title "Todii cover" last Saturday creating awareness for the COVID- 19 which went viral on social media.
In a statement, Tuku Music states "We were notified about the cover version of the song “Todii” on the 19th of April 2020 and after watching it we immediately reached out to Pastor Athony Musembi via his Facebook. We did not get a response from him and after contacting our colleagues we managed to get his phone number and management made contact with him and are waiting for his official statement via email."
Adding "We have listened to his version of the song and we understand that it will help raise awareness in Kenya where Pastor Athony Musembi is from and possibly to other parts of Africa. Dr Mtukudzi considered himself an African musician who just happened to have been born in Zimbabwe and Kenya was and will always be home to Tuku Music".
According to Tuku Music, pastor Musembi did not seek permission from them before releasing the cover song thus infringing on their rights.
"Pastor Athony Musembi however did not seek rights and pemission to use the song for the “COVID -19 “ awareness cover version for the song “Todii” and he has shown willingness to rectify the mistake and will work with our publishers and legal team to make sure the necessary paperwork is in order. We believe his version of the song will compliment efforts to flatten the curve in the fight against COVID -19 in Kenya and in Africa." reads the statement from Tuku Music
The statement further states" We encourage artists to follow the correct protocols when they need to use copyright protected material to avoid unnecessary issues that can arise from violations of these protocols".
Pastor Musembi has not yet responded to the issues raised.
OIliver Mtukudzi died last year (2019) January in Harare Zimbabwe.
