Lieutenant Shitana copyright case successful

Afro-pop and traditional artist Frederick Shitana, better known as Lieutenant Shitana, has scored a legal victory regarding the copyrighting of his music in a court case finalised on 13 June.

In November 2017, Lieutenant Shitana reported a case of copyright infringement against Immanuel Petrus who worked at a printing shop in Windhoek. Petrus was subsequently found guilty by magistrate Mutafela Olga Likando under the copyright and neighbouring rights protection act of 1994.Namibia Society of Composers and Authors of Music (Nascam) chief executive officer John Max said Lieutenant Shitana’s case was successful because for the first time in history, all the required evidence was available. “For a successful case, it is important to record the accused, have a receipt and a photo of the accused,” he said. Max said to get the needed information together is often not easy, adding that Lieutenant Shitana was brave to do it himself. “Lieutenant Shitana first went to the Namibian police, which he says did nothing to solve the problem.He later came to me and we set up a plan together to trap the accused,” Max said.Max said many cases often end without the accused being punished for their wrongdoing because prosecutors in Namibia don’t understand copyright law and artists often end up withdrawing cases. “It is true that many artists don’t have the patience to wait for long cases to be finalised. In many instances, I am present and can see how disappointed artists gets to hear that the case has been postponed again. They get very irritated, because they have to sit almost the entire day at court, while they are supposed to create music,” Max said. Petrus, a 29-year-old single parent to a six-year-old son, admitted wrongdoing in court. He said he needed the money to pay his son’s school fees and to earn a living. “I used to duplicate music onto a CD and then make colour copies of the album cover. I would charge N$40 for each album,” Petrus said.He was first fined N$30 000, or eight months imprisonment, but he appealed to the court for a lighters entence. “I earn about N$3 000 per month. I sell branded T-shirts. I asked the court to understand my plight. I live under difficulty and have a child living with me who goes to school,” said Petrus. He paid a fine of N$4000.Lieutenant Shitana encourages other artists to start protecting their music, as it is their business. He said the challenge was the fact that the case took long to be finalised. “It is really sad that the system in our country is very slow when it comes to finalising such the cases.This often causes many artists to give up. I told myself that even if it’s long, I will not give up. For me, it was key to keep fighting until justice was done. I am happy with the end result,” he said.

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