Kwesta and American Rapper Wale Fight Telkom Over R1.5 million

Kwesta and American Rapper Wale Fight Telkom Over R1.5 million
Kwesta and American Rapper Wale Fight Telkom Over R1.5 million

South African major telecom company Telkom is reportedly being dragged to court by Kwesta and his team over unpain royalties.

The company used Kwesta’s song, Spirit, in which he featured American rapper, Wale.

Sunday World reports that Kwesta, Wale’s record label – Sheer Music and Makwa, who produced the song have taken Telkom together with Wunderman Marketing and Wunderman Thompson to court following disputes over unpaid royalties.

The telecom company used the song in an advert played on its company YouTube Channel, radio stations and TV for almost 20 months. It never paid Kwesta and his team R859 500 it owed, plus R702 000 it owes for its Behind the Scenes short film that went viral on social media.

In total, amount owed by Telkom is R1.5 million.

It is further reported that the two companies responsible for running Telkom adverts further used used the song in its prepaid ‘Zkhipha More’ advert and short film without consulting with Kwesta, Sheer Music and Makwa, hence, infringing copyright of the song.

The publication reports that when Kwesta and his team first approached the the companies, they were unsuccessful to come up with an agreement which led to the matter taken to court.

Speaking about the matter, Telkom’s spokesperson Moeketsi Mocumi confirmed the case was to be heard in court soon.

“The matter between Sheer Music and Bridge IP against Wunderman is currently the subject of pending litigation. Telkom is aware of the claim as it has been cited as a defendant in the matter, ” he said.


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