Jamaican Researcher

'Romping' with Copyright

Ne-Yo

The directive for the censorship of Romping Shop is not simply an assault by the state on ‘slackness’ or Dancehall culture. In fact, its familiar rhythm, copied from Ne-Yo’s, Miss Independent, has brought international pressure on the Broadcasting Commission to regulate musical content and place a ban on the distribution and promotion of Romping Shop. It seems as if this situation has added fuel to a burning fire, as the ban was not limited to the ‘copyright offensive’ song, rather it sought to curtail many elements of the ‘socially offensive’ Dancehall culture.

Check out the following videos–the similarity of the rhythm is indisputable…

There is an important question to be asked in this situation of copyright infringement, Why was ‘Romping Shop’ awarded song of the year, publicized internationally, and promoted across the Jamaican mass media, if it was only a demonstration record (white label)?

Spice

Answers to this question may lead us to the source of the problem–a general disregard for intellectual rights and an absence of an effective classification, monitoring and regulatory system for creative content in Jamaica. Copyright protection is no joke, and the stakeholders of the Jamaican music industry simply ignored it in this case. This leaves us to wonder, Who is in charge of monitoring the use of intellectual property?

Vybz Kartel

So many things went wrong in this Romping Shop situation–necessitating such things like: artist development and education about a number of critical issues; reformation of the standards surrounding how we classify creative content; and the establishment of a regulatory system to monitor human (including intellectual) rights and government legislation and policies concerning such rights.

We cannot reform and get the best from our creative industries if we do not invest in its development–Better preparation is definitely needed.