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country form the most important part of its national identity. Songs such as “Nhemamusasa”, “Chemutengure”, “Unyawo Lwami”,  “Manhanga Kutapira”,  and so forth, are traditional songs which give Zimbabwe its national identity.  It is thus imperative both from an individual and a national standpoint that the production and dissemination of this intellectual property be protected. If these songs are used by foreigners overseas, how does Zimbabwe benefit?

I was shocked when visiting Fredrikstad Cultural School, a school in Norway, to see that all the music students there could play “Nhemamusasa” on mbira and marimba and sing it in Shona  just like Zimbabwean musicians do. They even boasted that they had done a recording of this song under the name “Kulturskolen I Fredikstad”. No mention of Zimbabwe was made on the recording. On being asked how they had obtained the copyright, no one had a straight answer. All I heard was the fact that there is a cultural exchange between Zimbabwe and Norway, but this did not address the issue of copyright.

According to the Zimbabwe Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, copyright is the exclusive right given by law for a certain period of time, to a composer, author or artiste  to control the use of the works of his or her mind.  The author of an original musical, literary, dramatic or artistic work is entitled to protection against the unauthorised use of his/her work as well as a share of any earnings from its use.  The economic rewards that copyright assures the author provide a stimulus to creativity from which the whole society benefits.  The law of copyright aims at protecting the rights of artistes in areas such as literacy, drama and musical work inasfar as:
(a) reproducing the work in any material form; (b) publishing the work; (c) performing the work in public; (d) broadcasting the work; (e) causing the work to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service; and (f) making any adaptation of the work.

Exception to the above is made if a work is performed, copied, reproduced or adapted for:  (a) research or private study; (b) personal and private use; (c) criticism or review if sufficient acknowledgment is made; (d) reporting current events in a newspaper, magazine, broadcast, TV programme or movie; (e) reproduced and/or performed for judicial proceedings; and (f) the performance or broadcast of a reasonable extract if sufficient acknowledgment is made.
Unless a song is in public domain, that is, if the song is still in circulation 50 years after the death of the composer(s), then it cannot be used without permission by anyone else.

In 1951, Augustine Musarurwa, born in Zvimba in 1920, and his Cold Storage Sweet Rhythm Band, recorded through Gallo Records of South Africa, the world famous tune, “Skokiaan”. When Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, the acclaimed jazz trumpeter, visited Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in December 1960, after the United States Information Services facilitated his tour of Africa, he was surprised at the similarities between kwela and jazz and asked  Musarurwa and his backing band to be supporting musicians  on some of his tunes.

At the same time Armstrong tried to fit into some of Musarurwa’s songs.  He fell in love with “Skokiaan” and later, after returning to the United States, recorded “Skokiaan” in 1961.   Members of the Musarurwa family I have spoken to say that they never received any royalties for use of Augustine’s tune. It is not known who gave Louis Armstrong permission to record “Skokiaan” as both Musarurwa and Armstrong are now dead.

A similar incident occurred in 1939 when a South African, Solomon Popoli Ntsele Linda, a Zulu musician, with his group, The Evening Birds, recorded in a Johannesburg studio a new melody over a background of vocal chants. He named the song “Mbube”, which is Zulu for “lion”, and it went on to become one of the most famous melodies in the world, spawning hundreds of cover versions in Japanese, Spanish and French, among other languages.

The English version, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, has been recorded by more than 150 artistes and appears in more than 15 feature films.  One of the groups which recorded the song in England was called Tiger Feet.

They did not acknowledge Solomon Linda for the song neither did Linda’s family receive any royalties for his effort in composing the song. Gallo Records paid Linda and his group a flat session fee for the recording, after which the company owned the song and did not have to pay any composer royalties, even though the record sold an estimated 100 000 copies in South Africa alone. Linda died  a pauper on October 8, 1962.

Below are some of the famous cover versions of Solomon Linda’s song, “Mbube”:
1) The Weavers, did a  version of “Mbube” and titled it “Wimoweh” in 1951. 2) Folk musician Pete Seeger and his band adapted “Mbube” into “The Anglicised”.

Hundreds of musicians have covered “Mbube”—some even before The Weavers – generating millions of dollars in royalties. Here are just a few:
3) The Tuxedo Swingsters: This early 1950s version featured Abdullah Ibrahim. 4) Miriam Makeba: made a USA top 40 hit in the early 1960s with the Harry Belafonte Folk Singers and the Chad Mitchell Trio. 5) Topping charts worldwide and selling millions of copies, this song was copyrighted as an original by George Weiss, although the melody was identical to the original “Mbube.” The song is one of the most played radio hits of all time. 6) Dorsey: The jazz legend recorded “Mbube” in 1952 and also made millions after covering this song. 7) The Kingston Trio: This folk version stayed on the charts for more than three years. 8) Karl Denver: A number one hit in the UK in 1962. 9) Robert John: A number three hit in the USA in 1972. 10) Ladysmith Black Mambazo have recorded four versions of “Mbube” which has been a hit throughout the world.

In addition to appearing on countless audio recordings, versions of “Mbube” have been featured on the big screen, in video and television commercials.

11) Coming To America: This 1988 Eddie Murphy film featured a version of the song by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. 12) Cry the Beloved Country: Starring Richard Harris, this ‘90s remake featured “Mbube.”

Fred Zindi is a professor at the University of Zimbabwe. He is also a musician and an author of several books on music. He can be contacted via e-mail on [email protected]

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