Ghana: Wendy Shay accuses SA film producer of copyright infringement

29 Apr 2021 - 20:08

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

Ghanaian Afropop singer Wendy Shay has accused the producers of South African Netflix film Slay of using her 2019 song ‘All For You’ without consent.

Wendy Shay.

The musician this week took to social media to call out the people behind the film and threatened to take legal action against them if she was not paid royalties for using the song.

“So, I watched this movie last night on Netflix, and my song, ‘All For You’ was featured without my consent or that of my management,” she said. “Producers of the movie Slay, it is a crime to use someone’s intellectual property without her consent. Kindly do the needful or I will see you in court.”

The film was produced by Nigerian actor and director Elvis Chucks and released in April. It features popular African actors such as Amanda Dupont, Ramsey Noah, Dawn Thandeka, Enhle Mbali, Kalybos and Bismark The Joke.

Slay has since been taken off the video streaming platform, but Wendy Shay’s management says they have still not heard from the producers of the film. The musician's label boss Ricky Agyemang says his management is dissappointed.

“It is unfortunate that a lot of people do not understand intellectual property and copyright stuff,” Agyeman told Hitz FM. “I am expecting royalties from Netflix. Netflix should get it right that we are not happy they used my song without my consent.”

In Ghana, creators and authors of original work are protected under the Copyright Act of 2005, which encompasses literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architecture. The duration of copyright protection for an eligible work is the life of the author plus 70 years and copyright offenders could be fined up to 1 000 penalty units or by up to three years imprisonment or to both.

Meanwhile, Wendy Shay is set to release her sophomore album Shayning Star this year, which is led by her single ‘Nobody’, released on 11 April. The upcoming project will follow her 2019 album Shay On You.

Born Wendy Asiamah Addo, Wendy Shay is also behind the Shay Foundation, which was founded in 2019 to aid the less privileged and support the Ghanaian government’s efforts to realise the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of no poverty and zero hunger.