Award-winning artists Blaq Diamond were left with an egg on their faces after the high court in Johannesburg dismissed an application for an urgent court interdict to stop their record label, Ambitiouz Entertainment, from taking down their music videos on YouTube.
Blaq Diamond had applied for the interdict after the record label instructed YouTube to take down the music videos, saying they had unlawfully terminated their contract with it and submitted them via a rival music label.
Ambitiouz Entertainment also said it owned the copyright of the music videos and the artists had no right to submit them to YouTube without its permission or consent
In their application for an interdict, the artists argued that they released the songs after entering into a publishing and exclusive management agreements with Ambitiouz Entertainment several years ago.
They said they terminated all the contracts with the stable on two different dates this year after a dispute over money, among others.
The musicians said after terminating the agreements with Ambitiouz Entertainment, they entered into an exclusive digital distribution agreement with Electromode/Ingrooves for a period of 36 months from July 1 this year.
They further explained that they also established their own record label Umuthi Uthi, under which they released their popular songs Qoma, Illanga and Fireworks, which they submitted to YouTube for marketing and streaming, among others.
They said the songs were taken down by YouTube at the behest of Ambitiouz Entertainment.
“We are not alone in the abovementioned songs, as they are co-authored by other artists whose intellectual property rights are also affected by the conduct of primarily the second respondent,” read the court papers.
After a dispute over whether their agreements were terminated, Blaq Diamond said they received a letter from the stable’s lawyers informing them that they have ordered YouTube to take down the music videos as they were infringing on their copyright.
The artists said the removal of the video clips would negatively affect their livelihood and inflict untold financial damage on them, as they generate an income of at least R30 000 per month from each of the streaming platforms.
They added that the permanent takedown of the videos or the songs will result in their failure to pay rent and motor vehicles instalments, among other responsibilities. “The unlawful takedown infringes upon the applicants’ rights,” read the papers.
But the judge struck their application off the court roll and said it lacked urgency.
“After having read the papers filed on record and after having listened to counsel, an order in the following terms is made. The matter is struck off the court roll for lack of urgency. Each party to pay their own costs,” reads the judgment.
Blaq Diamond’s legal representative Michael Matlapeng confirmed that the court has struck their application off the roll. “We will enrol the matter on the normal court roll for a judicial termination of the three contracts,” said Matlapeng.
Matlapeng added that they will also ask the court to give them an order to appoint an auditor to check the financial books of the stable. “They have not paid royalties to my clients since 2017,” he said.
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