Warner asks the police and hospitals to pay
No time right now?
Thousands of police officers, hospital and company employees have put dance videos on the Jerusalema Challenge online over the past few weeks. That is now dearly for many.
Since autumn 2020, thousands of people around the world have been dancing to the rhythms of the song Jerusalema by the South African musician Kgaogelo Moagi alias Master KG. In Germany, too, police officers, hospital employees and members of companies and organizations sent themselves to share their dance performances on YouTube as part of the so-called Jerusalema (Dance) Challenge. For many a sign of hope in the difficult Corona situation. The dance videos could now be the undoing of many of them.
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Warner license: NRW Ministry of the Interior has paid
Because how Focus Online reported first, Warner Music, which holds the rights to the song, has now sent out numerous letters. In it, the group demands license fees. German authorities and companies are also affected, including the St. Barbara Clinic in Hamm, the Märkischer Kreis police, some village fire brigades and rehabilitation clinics, as the dpa has found out. The North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior is said to have settled Warner Music’s claims for several police stations.
It is not known how high the license fees are in detail. Warner Music, which has confirmed the payment requests, stated that it was aware of the special nature of the Jerusalema Challenge. Therefore, the license fees were different. In some cases, only symbolic amounts would be due. Warner told Focus Online that the company would even charge fees for such an action, saying that artists are dependent on fair payment, especially in times like these.
Jerusalema Challenge: Swipe at dancing companies
But Warner did not let himself be taken away from a swipe at the dancing organizations. After all, paying the artists is all the more important if the music is “used by third parties to increase their reputation”. The law is on Warner’s side anyway. Because the publication of a video with a copyrighted song in the background constitutes a violation of copyright, as the lawyer Christian Solmecke who specializes in media law opposite the RND said.
At the moment, private users do not appear to be (yet) affected by the financial claims. Solmecke advises, however, to remove such videos from the network as a precaution.
