Veteran Nigerian musician, Prof Victor Uwaifo, has accused Nigerian singer, Simisola Bolatito Ogunleye AKA Simi and Iledare Oluwajuwonlon, AKA Jaywon of copyright theft.
According to dailypost,The one-time Edo State Commissioner for Arts and Culture who has hit songs like ‘Joromi’, ‘Mami Water’and ‘Guitar Boy’ Said the duo failed to seek his permission before making the different remixes of his
song, Joromi.
It was gathered that ”Joromi” a highlife song by Uwaifo, was first released on the album titled Big Sound on June 27, 1969, however, almost 5 decades after its release, new versions of Joromi resurfaced in Nigerian music scene.
Dr. Uwaifo in an interview with Showtime, said, simply ascribing credit to him as original composer of the song would suffice as permission for him although he has no intention to drag them to court.
He said, “They didn’t contact me before doing a remix of Joromi; but I’m like a father to them so I can’t begin to drag them to court, so let them make a living out of it, but at the same time it’s piracy.”
“I’ve heard it too many times on different occasions; it shows the quality of the music that has come a long way. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve lived five lives (from one generation to the other), so if they want to appreciate and still appreciate me, it shows the quality of the music.
It’s one thing to be an artiste and it’s another thing to stay on the scene for a long time; so I will not discourage artistes trying to remix or do another rendition of Joromi, but rather encourage them to give credit to the composer if they do.’’