HARARE – Fishers of Men, the gospel music family led by Victoria and Charles Charamba, have said although they found Jah Signal’s Shinga Muroora to be blasphemous and morally questionable, they did not initially intend for the song to be pulled from YouTube until the young artiste attempted to remix another one of their songs.
The song, which had garnered over six million views since its release in 2018 and propelled Jah Signal to stardom, was this week pulled down from video sharing platform, YouTube, due to copyright infringement.
In a statement, the Fishers of Men said they had not given approval for the release of the song in 2018, but had decided to let Jah Signal enjoy the success that it brought.
“Sometime in 2018 Jah Signal released his song, “Shinga Muroora”. The song was a rendition of our own song, “Kana vanhu vangu,” which we released in 2001. We got to know about the song when it was sent through WhatsApp by his manager who was asking for our permission.
“After listening to the song, we were so concerned about the changing of original lyrics into romantic words.
“We declined the proposal through text as well. We mentioned that the changing of meaning brought to the song was not good for a song known to be Gospel. We found it blasphemous and a mockery.
“In no time the song was released. There was a very clear infringement of copyright laws. We were naturally not pleased, but chose not to raise issue with this.
“We accepted the reality and moved on. We did not even wish to get any payment for this. This remains our position to date, we do not want any share of royalties or damages,” they said in their statement.
The Fishers of Men said they had decided to change their stance recently when Jah Signal remixed another song, Tengai Mafuta by Mai Charamba.
“A few months ago, (September 2023), Jah Signal released another song called “Tengai Mafuta”. The song is a remix of “Tengai Mafuta” by Mai Charamba. Just like “Shinga Muroora”, it’s about romantic overtones.
“Though we had been doing the clean-up on our music for the past three years, we had spared “Shinga Muroora “on the basis that it had made too many views.
“The further infringement on “Tengai Mafuta” prompted us to act on both songs and other “infringing songs” which had been spared for a long time. No consent was sought, no consent was granted and for us this was a very clear infringement of copyright laws.
“For both songs, he did not acknowledge the original composer which is the norm. There’s also a breach of moral rights. We are not more special than anyone in God’s eyes. Anyone can ask for our song if they want reproduce it just like what Dr Tawanda has done to “Tauya Kuzomutenda”.
“As elders we wish Jah Signal well in his life and in his career. We have no desire to see him fail. We have never declined engagement with him,” the statement read.
The Fishers of Men said instead of being seen as villains, they should be regarded as victims of the whole saga.
“We would urge fellow artists and music managers to always guard against copyright infringement, seek and obtain consent, acknowledge copyrights. This will always avoid complications that may arise or wrong perceptions.
“Though we have been misunderstood by some people, we are hopeful that no one among our blessed youths will ever be sued for cases like these. We shall also undertake to do some teachings on related subjects.
“Musicians are also encouraged to attend music workshops so that they can exchange knowledge with others. We have not been cruel to Jah Signal. We have actually been victim to copyright infringement.
“As mentioned, we are working to avoid another pending strike which may cause his channel to be deleted,” he said.
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