FEATURED ARTISTS, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS - SWAMA

MBABANE - Did you know that featured artists have to be paid an upfront fee before agreeing to collaboration?

Artists features are a huge part of the music business because collaboration is one of the most powerful marketing concepts in music. One question that often arises when it comes to features is; ‘Do artists get paid for featuring?’ According to Home Music Producer , it’s common for artists to get paid for features and have a percentage of royalties from the sound recording side of the copyright.

Speaking to one of the members from Copyrights Act committee, Lutfo Dlamini, who is also the President of Eswatini Arts and Music Association (SWAMA), he said some artists, depending on their status, may require an artist to pay them to feature on a record while others may simply feature on the record without asking for an upfront fee but simply a share of the revenue that the song would generate.

Charge

“Most recording artists do charge a feature price for any one who wants to feature them on a song. Artists signed to labels will have business managers who will negotiate on their behalf to make sure that their artist gets paid for featuring on your record. Some may want to charge you to feature on your record, while others may do the feature and only ask that they get their share of revenue once the record starts to generate revenue,” he explained.

On the same issue of artists collaboration, some artists find themselves not acknowledged on the actual album cover and this has raised a lot of concerns. Dlamini said it is pivotal for all parties involved in the collaboration process to understand their rights, what they stand to achieve and what they tend to loose should there be a misunderstanding. He said featured artists can demand a certain percentage from royalties generated from the release of the song/project.

Projects

He further encouraged content creators to seek legal advice whenever they were creating new projects. Dlamini made a classic example of a late well-known South African musician who never applied the Copyright Bill on his craft. He said his royalties are currently being enjoyed by the people who registered themselves as part of the creatives behind his projects.  “Royalties will also definitely come into play because those featuring on your record make them part of the song writers. “The copyright of the lyrics will still be theirs and they’ll often negotiate with you about how much of a percentage of the royalties they are comfortable with. This is not really unnatural because it’s how the music industry works,  so don’t get thrown off when an artist asks for what’s rightfully theirs with regard to upfront fees and/or royalties, ” he added.

In an interview with one of the local artists, who is one of those who had submitted a CD without accrediting the featured artists in it, he said he was aware of the mistake that he made and that he was in the process of fixing the album cover and giving these artists the credit they deserved. It is worth noting that the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 2018 (Act No. 4 of 2018) was passed in Parliament in 2018 and on August 1, 2021; it came into force. This is according to a government gazette dated July 27, 2021.

What does the passing of this law mean for the country’s creatives? First and foremost, a copyright is a set of exclusive legal rights given to the author or creator of an original work – that includes the right to copy, distribute, adapt, perform and display the work in public.

Copyright

The work itself does not necessarily have to be unique. The owners of the copyright to the material have the right to copy, print, and distribute their work. Anyone else who wants to reuse the work in this way, has to obtain permission from the owner. The difference between a copyright, patent and a trademark is that a copyright protects the original works of an author or creator, whereas a patent protects inventions or discoveries, e.g. new technologies. A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs that identify the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishes them from those of others, e.g. Futis, Gargashie Clothing or Cotton Sway.

Works that can be copyrighted according to Section 3 (1) include; literal works, musical works, artistic works, audio-visual works, sound recordings, broadcasts, programme carrying signals, published editions. It is worth noting though that this Act only applies to a citizen of Eswatini, a domiciled or ordinary resident and in the case of a corporate body that is incorporated under the law of the country.

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