I couldn’t agree with you more Dr. Pheko. This song is part of our heritage and a symbol of our struggle. It should’t be contaminated in the manner that it’s being desecrated at the moment. If not for anything, it must be preserved for the benefit of our children.
The part of the new anthem written by Sontonga - as a separate work - is long out of copyright. In South Africa, copyright on both lyrics and on musical works only lasts for 50 years after the death of the composer/lyricist (in this case the same person, at least for verse 1, which is the verse used on the new anthem). So no-one can claim royalties on it. It is in the public domain.
The second half of the new anthem is the whole music of Die Stem, composed by M.L. de Villiers, with words partly in Afrikaans (C.J. Langenhoven - written long before de Villiers’ music), and partly in English (I cannot for the moment recall who did this translation). It is also quite possible that all three of these authors died more than 50 years ago.
The new combo anthem, however, constitutes a “new work”. It was written by a committee, or rather, a committee chaired by Professor Mzilikazi Khumalo, decided how to do it. And it was done at the request of the Government. Where the State makes such a request (I learnt yesterday, at the Moshito Conference in Johannesburg), then the work belongs to the State, according to the copyright laws of South Africa. So the State, presumably, owns the royalties too.
The official orchestration was done by Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, who may also have composed the linking bar (which comprises one note: A) that joins the two parts. That is a different issue, copyright over an ‘arrangement’ or ‘orchestration’, and I’m pretty sure she would hold copyright over that aspect of it.
August 28th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I couldn’t agree with you more Dr. Pheko. This song is part of our heritage and a symbol of our struggle. It should’t be contaminated in the manner that it’s being desecrated at the moment. If not for anything, it must be preserved for the benefit of our children.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
The part of the new anthem written by Sontonga - as a separate work - is long out of copyright. In South Africa, copyright on both lyrics and on musical works only lasts for 50 years after the death of the composer/lyricist (in this case the same person, at least for verse 1, which is the verse used on the new anthem). So no-one can claim royalties on it. It is in the public domain.
The second half of the new anthem is the whole music of Die Stem, composed by M.L. de Villiers, with words partly in Afrikaans (C.J. Langenhoven - written long before de Villiers’ music), and partly in English (I cannot for the moment recall who did this translation). It is also quite possible that all three of these authors died more than 50 years ago.
The new combo anthem, however, constitutes a “new work”. It was written by a committee, or rather, a committee chaired by Professor Mzilikazi Khumalo, decided how to do it. And it was done at the request of the Government. Where the State makes such a request (I learnt yesterday, at the Moshito Conference in Johannesburg), then the work belongs to the State, according to the copyright laws of South Africa. So the State, presumably, owns the royalties too.
The official orchestration was done by Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, who may also have composed the linking bar (which comprises one note: A) that joins the two parts. That is a different issue, copyright over an ‘arrangement’ or ‘orchestration’, and I’m pretty sure she would hold copyright over that aspect of it.