Diamond, Mbosso in a copyright infringement saga

Internationally acclaimed South African DJ Maphorisa had Tanzanian superstars Mbosso and Diamond Platinumz’s latest song pulled down from streaming giant YouTube on Saturday, October 29, 2022.

The song, which is now back on the online platform, was pulled down after the duo uploaded the hit song ‘Yataniua’ to their respective YouTube channels a day earlier and amassed millions of views.

Mbosso and Diamond’s Yataniua song sounds similar to Young Stunna, Kabza de Small, and DJ Maphorisa’s song, Adiwele, which premiered on YouTube on March 18, 2022.

Yataniua is one of the tracks on Mbosso’s album, Khan, and he featured Diamond on the song.

Both songs share the same beat and arrangement in some parts, especially where the trio sings ‘Adiwele’ compared to Mbosso, who sings in Swahili in the same tune as the “Adiwele” lyric.

In the same song, Diamond also sings in a way that is very similar to how Nigerian artiste Asake sang in his Peace Be Unto You (PBUY) song, and the difference, again, is that he sings in Swahili. Asake released his hit song, PBUY, four months ago.

According to YouTube, when a video is pulled down, it is because a copyright owner sent the streaming platform a complete legal request to have a video taken down, and the alleged offender receives a copyright strike.

The strike system is put in place to show how close they are to getting their account banned and also puts certain restrictions on the offender’s account.