Image: Instagram
'Free' hitmaker Nyashinski is on the verge of a bursting legal war after a court ordered him to furnish it with a copy of all his contract documents detailing the ambassadorial deal he signed with Tecno Kenya Limited last year.
This is following the legal copyright claim case brought against him by Nigerian music producer Sam Are Eliapenda Jedidah popularly known as Sam Eli.
Last year, Mr. Eli sued Shinski saying that the artist had used his 2020 hit-song 'Wach Wach' in a brand deal without Eli's consultation or giving him a cut from the paycheck he took home.
In the documents, Eli argued as the producer of 'Wach Wach’ he is entitled to 50 percent of the fortune made from the endorsement deal but he got absolutely nothing! Adding his efforts to try and contact Nyash for his fair share, have remained futile.
Last year the Kenyan rapper bagged a multi-million deal with Tecno upon signing a contract deal to be their brand ambassador for the Tecno Camon 20.
Image: Moses Mwangi
Eli maintains that he did not even know about Shinski's ambassadorial deal up until he saw the ads on screen billboards, national television stations, and YouTube which caught him by surprise.
Interestingly, according to documents pertaining to the ownership of the song ‘Wach Wach’ Nyashinski owns 100 percent master rights of the song while the publishing rights of the song are split equally (50% each) between Sam Eli and Nyashinski.
You are probably wondering, "So what is the difference between master rights and publishing rights then?" Don't worry I've got you covered.
Masters are acquired when one owns the original sound recording of their music and this is usually pegged on who finances the production, marketing, promotion, and distribution.
It can be the artist independently or the record label that the artist is signed to.
The owner earns royalties when the song is played or reproduced, from all music-producing platforms available.
On the other hand, publishing rights, cover the music composition dealing with the underlying music element, structure, and composition of a song as it relates to how an artist’s music is used. These rights cover the original writer, author, and the original composer of the song.
Shinski however is arguing that the deal he got with Tecno was most definitely not a publishing deal but rather one which included image rights, appearance, interviews, photo/video shoots, travel, and social media associations.
The two, together with their legal teams have had a back and forth with each team trying to discredit the other's claims.
However, Honorable Justice Selina Muchungi who is handling the case has sided with Eli demanding Shinski to furnish the court with copies of the ambassadorial deal signed between his company Geta International Limited and Tecno for the Camon 20 campaign.
On top of that, he is also to serve the court with copies of all the royalties reports from all the digital platforms from the date of release 'Wach Wach' as well as 3 other songs that Eli produced for him as Eli now claims to not have received any royalties payments of the songs from the singer.
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