Home Entertainment Nash TV reverses controversial clauses of artists contracts

Nash TV reverses controversial clauses of artists contracts

by

By Trevor Makonyonga

It was a long week for Nash TV who have been forced to issue a statement after a public outcry over a leaked contract which had some emphatical statements which barred the artists from rights to their creative work.

In a statement by Nash TV’s Butterphly, the entertainment company has supposedly released all copyrights to the artists after a public outcry from music stakeholders mostly music bloggers.

Butterphly said, “We have always considered ourselves a platform by the people, for the people and for that reason we value public views and feedback to the work we do. Due to the public outcry concerning some of our contracts with artists, we have taken it upon ourselves to release all the Colour Vibes videos, Hotspot Videos and Live Shows that we have done. Any artiste who recorded with us and wants to claim the copyright to their song should feel free to do that.”

Butterphly also said that her company was trying to protect themselves having had paid the artist in full.

“The leaked contract was designed to give the company maximum protection especially after paying the artist the agreed figure for the music video in full. Our main thrust is to help turn Zimbabwean art sector into a self-funding industry and doing so in a sustainable way which safeguards our interests and investment over time,” said Butterphly.

Nash TV also said that they will review the contracts and expose their financial statements to the public.

Butterphly said, “Going forward we are working on a new contract and we will reach out to all arts stakeholders, critics included so that we come up with a contract which seeks to protect not only ourselves but the artist as well. We will have the contracts debates live on air until we come up with a solid win win contract.

“We are also opening our financials to public scrutiny and these will demonstrate that as Nash Group, we have not made any profits from Nash TV. Financial gain was never the driving factor in this venture, we are solely driven by the desire to the grow the arts industry and bring a feel good experience to our country as proven overtime.”

The contract that caused the storm was heavily worded with terms that most deemed exploitative.

“….. Do hereby grant to Nash TV and its companies, associates, licensees, beneficiaries and give (collectively Nash Group) an unlimited, sub-licensable, transferrable, irreversible, permanent, universal, royalty-free license to my pictures, portrayal, likeness, voice and performance in any audio, visual or audio-visual recordings which includes but is not limited to, digital images, video and audio captured of me by or on behalf of Nash TV.”

The above statement is what caused an outcry as voices such as that of renowned blogger as Plot Mhako and Tinashe Mutero came out condemning the contracts which led to conversations around the issue.

Related Articles