Mwakyembe congratulates AY and MwanaFA for landmark win against Tigo
Dar es Salaam. Minister for information, Arts, Culture and Sports Dr Harrison Mwakyembe has today August 28 congratulated Tanzanian rappers AY and MwanaFA on winning a court case against telco company, Tigo.
The minister was speaking at a joint meeting which was convened together with the ministry of Industry and Trade’s Innocent Bashungwa at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam bringing together the Film Board, Basata and Cosota.
At the centre of discussion was the issue of royalties and copyright laws in Tanzania
“I am happy that these two artistes stood their ground to fight for their rights when they felt it was infringed and that is what I want all artistes in Tanzania to do,” he said.
In May 2016, a court in Ilala, Dar es Salaam set a precedent in the copyright history of Tanzania by awarding the two artistes Sh2.18 billion in special damages.
The huge award was won by Bongo flava artistes Ambwene Yessaya “AY” and Hamisi Mwinjuma “MwanaFA” who had sued mobile phone company MIC Tanzania (Tigo), for unauthorised use of their music as caller tunes.
A caller tune is a tone that is in the form of music that is heard by a person making a call as they wait for the person being called to answer the phone.
The Ilala Senior resident magistrate Juma Hassan granted the award after a four-year court battle between the two parties, it also included Sh25 million in general damages.
