This archive report was first published on 31 August 2019.
On August 31, 2019, a heated dispute erupted in the Tanzanian music industry when rapper turned politician Joseph Haule, popularly known as Professor Jay, accused the Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) of misrepresenting facts regarding royalties paid from Uganda.
According to Professor Jay, COSOTA claimed to have paid him Sh4.5 million (Tsh100 million) as royalties from Uganda, but he denied ever receiving the payment.
Instead, Professor Jay revealed that COSOTA had channelled the cash to renowned music producer P Funk Majani, the owner of Bongo Records.
“COSOTA came before a parliamentary committee and lied that they had paid me Sh100 million from Uganda. The truth is that I have not been paid a single cent, and the money was paid to P Funk Majani,” Professor Jay stated in an explosive Instagram message.
However, P Funk Majani responded with anger, accusing Professor Jay of playing politics and claiming that he owned the rights to what he was paid for, having lodged the case in court.
“These are politics, Professor Jay? Or is it that you are genuinely seeking justice for your rights? I have worked for 19 years, and you have ridden on my creativity without compensation. I have severed ties with you,” Majani declared.
The dispute between Professor Jay and COSOTA over royalties is reminiscent of the outcry from Kenyan artistes earlier this month over the ‘meagre’ royalties pay-out by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) to its 13,967 members.
