By Allen Kisakye
Shafik Walukagga alias Fik Fameica will in a few days hold his maiden concert, My Journey.
Then, his countless fans will expect him to document songs that have made him such a darling, especially to the youth.
What other avid music critics will be looking out for is whether he will explain why most of his songs sound like they were ‘xeroxed’.
For example, ‘Pistol’ one of Fameica’s earliest releases sounds eerily similar to ‘Fester’ by Lethal Bizzle and Diztortion. ‘Kutama’ meanwhile is copied from a Kaymo and Stigah’s ‘Thitima’ while ‘Byenyenya’ is a copy and paste of a song titled ‘Friendly with Her’ by JHus.
Well, somehow these artistes have let the musician shine, with the hope that he will grow musically and start making ‘his’ own music.
Chin Bees however will not have any of it.
The Tanzanian took one listen to Fameica’s ‘Mafia’ and couldn’t help but notice that it sounded everything like ‘Pepeta’. And he is ready to sue.
On November 23, through his lawyers KTA Advocates, Chin Bees issued a letter of intention to sue Fameica and his management company Karma Ivien over copyright infringement.
Mafia was produced by Artin Pro of Jahlive Studio and it was released earlier this year.
KTA Advocates issued a notice of intention to sue, claiming that their client Ramadhani Mussa alias Chin Bees is the owner/ author of the musical work titled ‘Pepeta’.
“It has come to our client’s attention that sometime in 2018 you released, performed and widely shared online a song MAFIA that has the same musical composition/arrangement as our client’s song Pepeta,” reads the notice.
The two songs, the letter continues, are entirely alike phonetically and our client takes issue with your unlawful copying, unauthorized use and/or appropriation of their song ‘Pepeta’.
Now, Fameica has been told to stop performing, promoting and should immediately take down the song ‘Mafia from all social media platforms.
‘’Our client further demands an inventory/account of all your proceeds from the song within seven days of receipt of this letter,” reads the letter.
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