After the song "Salam" by Saad just because .. Does Morocco put an end to art thefts?

Abdelghani Ballout-Marrakech

Morocco is moving to improve the legal system to protect the rights of authors and creators and fill its gaps in the field of musical creativity and other artistic creativity, which is promoted by new technologies and technology and the Internet.

After a few days of controversy over a musical phrase inspired by folklore in the song "Salam" by Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred, which was launched on YouTube, and the media sensation and questions about the boundaries between quotation and theft; the Moroccan government approved on Thursday (November 14th). The second on a new protection law is expected to make a quantum leap, observers say.

The President of the Moroccan Coalition for Intellectual Property Abdelhakim Karman to Al Jazeera Net in this context that "the most important thing in this law is to transform the Moroccan Office of Authors' rights from its ambiguous legal status to an institution for the collective management of artistic and literary property rights and neighboring rights, enjoying moral personality and financial independence, with what Concomitant modernization of structures, qualification of resources and upgrading of operational mechanisms, in accordance with rapid digital developments. "

He adds that this will enable modernization of the protection and governance of the material rights of creators and authors in Morocco, while devoting sectoral and field justice in the collection and distribution of rights to those who deserve them, thus better addressing complex files, including issues of piracy, counterfeiting and theft.

Fingerprint Author
Adding to the controversy about the song "Salam" that the musical part marked "theft of art" is a 25-second entrance to a song using the popular heritage known as "Ahwash", with the emergence of artists and artists belonging to this heritage in their traditional dress.

According to researcher in the field of intellectual protection, Abdelhakim Karman, the folklore is the common property of Moroccans, and anyone who wants to draw inspiration from it or use it in a work of art for the purpose of collecting a financial return, the Moroccan Office of Copyrights is licensed to obtain a license for such use.

He adds that the new synthesis of the elements of heritage in any work becomes protected by the law of his author, so the creative work of the new synthesis based on an original tune and according to the licensing or attribution process, becomes a new "work" subject to his intellectual property rights because it bears the "fingerprint" of the author.

While the President of the National Union of Folklore and Heritage Ali Al-Sheikhi said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net "There is no objection to the development of this artistic heritage in accordance with the rules of art; protect the rights of creators of folk music, whether using new digital technologies or without, but with the preservation On his soul and his "fingerprint" as it is internationally recognized. "

Protection of material rights
In many cases, when it comes to a conflict between a well-known artist and a lesser-known artist, the latter merely “moral recognition” of his creative efforts, and overlooks his economic rights, as music producer Suleiman Safavi stands out.

He adds in a statement to Al Jazeera Net regarding a number of music clips that are converted into scenes, that a number of Moroccan music creators believe that just getting a license from the Moroccan Film Center to shoot scenes is enough to protect their intellectual rights.

While expert Korman calls on all creators to review the laws governing the protection of their material and moral rights, as they have to declare their work with the Moroccan Office of the Rights of authors, in order to become their rights.

On the other hand, Ali al-Sheikhi describes that folklore, with its diversity and richness, is required to protect it in accordance with strict laws.

Theft or a quote?
It happens that some musical phrases resemble in multiple melodies created by artists, whether in one country or different countries, and followers and pioneers of social networking sites: Is it in the door of art theft?

According to the expert Qarman that music as human creativity as in all artistic and literary fields, we find similarities in inspiration, listening and quotation.

It distinguishes between a set of concepts, most notably "piracy" of automated reproduction of works for the purpose of trading, without the permission of their authors, and also means the seizure of musical content by denying affiliation to its original owner, including digital piracy, which is considered "harmful science" practiced by technicians superior in the digital field and able To encrypt content.

He explains that the song's intellectual rights are shared by the "writer of words" and "composer", who have the right to choose as many singers or singers as they want to enter as "performer" in accordance with written agreements and guaranteed rights to all parties.

Every creative artist maintains his literary paternity of the song forever, but economic rights are falling after the passage of time, which at the international level reaches a minimum of fifty years, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Moroccan creators are also slow to receive their dues from the Moroccan Office of Authors' Rights, and a sense of dissatisfaction with the amount owed after dividing the parties involved in the production of the song, which leads many of them not to enter the maze of the permit and get involved in the office, as confirmed by the music producer Solomon Safavi of the island Net.

The expert explains that the distribution of material rights is not subject to scientific standards, as is the case in the world, because there is no legal provision for extraction and distribution, and the absence of technological applications for the "technical repertoire" in Morocco.

Controversy continues
The new law, after waiting for its release in the official gazette soon, will provide greater powers and areas of intervention to this institution with important human and technological capabilities, and allows to address the shortcomings and slow in the measure.

It is worth noting that the Bureau used the French expertise through the French Association of Composers and Film Producers to record the musical achievement in the national and international melodies directory, while it will become a purely Moroccan issue in direct coordination with the World Organization.

The transformation of the Moroccan Office of Authors' Rights from a subsidiary into a public institution with moral character and financial independence is an unprecedented and commendable step, but the controversy over art theft as a time-honored crime against creativity requires that legal protections be parallel or precursor to rapidly exploiting developments. Digital for musical works.