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A Tanzanian court has awarded legendary bongo flava singer Rutta Maximillia Bushoke Tsh500 million (Sh24 million) in a copyright infringement suit against music streaming platform Boomplay.
Bushoke who rose to fame in the late 2000s with several hits such as ‘Nalia kwa furaha’ and ‘Usiende Mbali’ featuring Ugandan chanteuse Juliana Kanyamozi, sued the digital service provider (DSP) generating stream revenues from a number of his songs, without there being a binding contract between the two parties.
Bushoke says he did not enter into any agreement with Boomplay to either publish or distribute his music on its platform.
In court, Boomplay argued that it had entered into an agreement with a third party, Michael Mulingwa who provided it with the album tracks.
However, Bushoke told the Kinondoni District Court that no contract existed between him and any third party to distribute his songs on his behalf.
The DSP harbored the singer’s songs on its platform since 2018 and according to Bushoke, he has never received not a single cent from the streams revenue generated by Boomplay.
“I can confirm the court has awarded Bushoke the said amount as compensation for Copyright infringement of his work. Boomplay has also been ordered to remove Bushoke’s songs in question from the platform,” Cleverly Bowe, the singer’s counsel confirmed the reports.
Bushoke filed the suit in 2023 after an unsuccessful attempt to reach an out-of-court compensation deal with Boomplay.
“Boomplay has been generating revenue illegally from my songs almost an entire album since 2018 without my consent. The court has ruled that I need to be compensated but also as the rule of law they are open to appeal the decision,” Bushoke says.
The singer however says he is still open for an out-of-court settlement.
“The judgment has just been issued and my lawyer and I are waiting to see what Boompay's next course of action will be. If they will appeal the decision or they will opt for an out-of-court settlement but the bottom line is I have to get what is rightfully mine,” the singer adds.
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