Garfield Delano Spence, famously known as Konshens, is a renowned Jamaican dancehall artiste, DJ and entrepreneur. His musical portfolio includes compositions such as Simple Song, Gyal A Bubble, No Retreat and Jah Love Me.
In 2015, he took legal action against a telecommunications company in Uganda, alongside two other defendants. He asserted his sole ownership of the intellectual property rights to some of the aforementioned tracks. Konshens contended that he had never transferred his copyrights or intellectual property rights to the defendants.
Moreover, he accused the telecom company and its associates of unlawfully obtaining access to his songs and offering them to the public as caller tunes for a fee of sh600 per download.
In the legal proceedings, the plaintiff sought a declaration from the court, stating that the defendants' actions proceeding from the distribution of his works without sharing the resulting profits with him constituted both illegal behaviour and a violation of his copyright.
Konshens requested the court to order the recovery of the profits generated from the sales of all his songs, along with general and exemplary damages, as well as interest and legal costs.
In a verdict pronounced by Justice Patricia Mutesi on August 21, 2023, the telecom company and the two co-defendants were found liable. The court ruled in favour of the Jamaican artiste, awarding him $180,000 (about sh630m) in general damages as compensation for the infringement of his copyright, and an additional sh30m in exemplary damages.
During the legal proceedings, Cyrus Baguma from M/s Kalenge, Bwanika, Kisubi & Co. Advocates represented the plaintiff, while Yusuf Kanyike from M/s Katende, Ssempebwa & Company Advocates represented the first and second defendants. The third defendant received representation from Amos Masiko and Sadam Solomon of M/s Ortus Advocates.
Source: New Vision
