It never gets any better for South African singer and music producer Master KG as he keeps fighting battles for his 2019 hit song ‘Jerusalema’.
The hit maker is now involved in a fresh battle for “Jerusalema” as a fellow music producer, Charmza The DJ has accused Master KG of stealing the song from him.
Entertainment blogger Phil Mphela says a letter of demand over copyright ownership has allegedly been served to Master KG and his reps by Charmza The DJ’s lawyers.
He wrote, “Producer Charmza The DJ has served Master KG’s camp with a letter of demand over copyright ownership of Jerusalema.
“Charmza The DJ claims the original melody of the composition, beats and the arrangement of the song and vocals were his.”
Charmza The DJ alleged that he was invited by Master KG to work with him and Nomcebo Zikode in Midrand, in August 2019.
According to Charmza’s legal reps Adams & Adams, the producer ‘originated, authored, composed and produced the original musical composition’ that was released as Jerusalema.
The letter of demand goes on to cite the Copyright Act in their claim, that their client is entitled to obtain relief in the form of, among other things, damages.
This follows after it was reported that royalty payout for the hit song had been suspended after Nomcebo Zikode demanded a bigger share of the song for her contribution as the vocalist in the mega hit that took the world by storm.
It was a back and forth for Zikode and Master KG as the former claimed she had not been paid her royalties. Open Mic, the record label in charge of the song said no one had been paid yet, but Master KG claimed she was given R1.5 million rands (US$100 000).
“I have not been paid a cent by the label for ‘Jerusalema’ despite the song’s global success,” said Zikode.
Master KG responded, “@Nomcebozikode can you confirm if you yet received R1.5 million so far from Jerusalema??”
