How Abraham Afewerki's Song "Meley" Taught Ethiopian Musicians An Important Lesson
Legend Abraham Afewerki, RIP. Photo Credit: AAFM
Why Jacky Gosee's Meley Song was removed from YouTube
A year after Jacky Gosee's successful song of "Fiyameta", which the melody and chorus was taken without consent from Eritrean singer Fitsum Yohannes' classic "Nasanet" (Independence) song, he announced he would release another copied Eritrean song without consent, this time, belonging to the late artist Abraham Afewerki.
When the Abraham Afewerki Foundation For Music (AAFM), a non-profit organization entrusted with maintaining the legacy and intellectual property of the late artist, learned of Jacky's imminent release of "Meley", they were upset, and rightly so.
In their Facebook page, the organization described Jacky's action as "total disrespect to the legacy of Abraham Afewerki and akin to pure theft." And warned the Ethiopian pop singer that AAFM and Abraham's family will legally pursue the matter.
Despite the threat of legal action, Jacky went ahead and released the song on his YouTube channel. Within hours, the song had tens of thousands of views, and dozens of comments from Eritreans and Ethiopians pointing out his blatant copyright violation.
Left with no choice, ELLA Entertainment Records, an authorized company that distributes Abraham's music, filed a complaint with YouTube to remove Jacky's song on grounds it infringed on Abraham's intellectual property. The request was obliged and all postings of Jacky's Meley were deleted from YouTube.
Soon after, AAFM made another Facebook post to explain why Jacky's song was removed:
YouTube postings featuring Jacky Gosee’s unauthorized version of Abraham Afewerki’s Meley are all removed from YouTube. This includes video posted by Jacky Gosse himself. The video he posted was supported by advertisements generating revenue for himself piggybacking on somebody else’s original work. Thanks to those who helped us with cleaning up the infringing videos. Any more postings of the song will be dealt with in the same manner.
The issue is not closed and our lawyers are working the matter.
Again we reiterate the fact that this has nothing to do with Jacky Gosee the person, but it all has to do with the larger issue of copyright violations and that is what we are after.
We respect Jacky Gosee as an artist and we wish him well but one has to take responsibility for their actions and he will be required to do so in this case.
In the end, AAFM's swift actions sent a clear message to not only Jacky but to all Ethiopian artists who have been violating the intellectual property rights of Eritrean musicians. Because of their efforts, Ethiopian artists will start to think twice before taking Eritrean songs without consent.
Related Reading: What's Motivating Ethiopian Artists to copy Eritrean songs?
How Abraham Afewerki's Song "Meley" Taught Ethiopian Musicians An Important Lesson
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what else do Agames do? They just steal everything Eritrean. They have no creativitiy whatsoever They just steal, steal, steal. No shame!
ReplyDeleteNotice they even steal Eritrean mottos like "awet NHAFSH" and Zelealemaw Zikri Nsematatna!
These people are obsessed with anything Eritrean. I hate them!
I wish AA was still alive. It's been 10 years since he died. Can you imagine how many great songs and awesome art he would have come up by not. I really miss him. God bless Abraham Afewerki!
ReplyDeleteI am happy that we are fortunate to be copied from, imagine that if we were cursed, we could have been on the ugly side, i.e. Cheating, Imitating, Begging ... Hell NO .
ReplyDelete.
Long Live Eritrea !!!
One one hand from now on every artist rights is reserved. On the other hand Abraham legacy is not forgotten by his people. I had attended his 2nd year celebration where his mother was also present. I still remember the cooperation and the collaboration of the organizing committee and his fans. There ares Amharic's proverbs 'sewe yemotal seme gene ayemotem' and 'seme kemekabere belay'.
ReplyDeleteThis is another psyops of the Ethiopian Tribal Junta and its CIA handlers evil plot to dilute the feeling of Eritrean nationalism and identity among our young. The we are one and the same mantra is a poisonous pill laced with Cyanide designed to kill anything and everything Eritrean.
ReplyDeleteWe are a sovereign and independent nation with our customs and cultures. The blood, sweat and tears we paid for the Land of Hedri to be born isn't for the fain at heart. The destruction and mayhem that visited the Eritrean people at the hand of the Ethiopian colonizers are to imagine.
Today the same cruelty and barbarity prevails. The Ethiopian leaders past and present are unable to cleans their mindset from their medieval expansionist dreams. Their desire is to destroy Eritrea and exterminate the Eritrean race. The tried their cultural colonialism in the past, but failed and now they are repeating the same history again.
There is a saying in Tiginya, "Wuheig insahake yewesed" roughly means that a torrent can sweep you while you are laughing. Thus, our young people have to wise up. There can't be a more destructive blow to a nation's existence than the cultural and national belongings degradation of its young which are the nation's future and destiny.
Not only this.
ReplyDeleteThey faked our identity,
our way of talk, walk and dance,
our legendary liberation history,
They faked the word Habesha
to make us one and same people
as if our fallen heroes blood spilled
their blood to join with tgray people
They wide open their tgray gate
to swallow our young, make them
teach our way of living, politics, songs...
and then squeeze their families abroad
to every coin, smuggling the young to nowhere
They still follow them abroad and call themselves
"Eritreans" to twist our reasoning of asylum and
defame Eritrea and Eritreanism
If you dig underneath all the crime, there is deep rooted
3i = inferiority complex, insecurity, ignorance
plus arrogance, delusion and fake pride of "tgray Adey"
tells you that they dream to copy Eritrean and have their
tgray people liberation TPLF mission (their flag is the witness)
but at the same time they want to squeeze the rest of Ethiopia to the last coin before leaving the power to its owners, which sooner or later is real.
As far as Woyane (tgray people in general) are denying their mistakes, you will notice that these people remain roothless beyond trace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ysu7AQvzI
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong in this music. Good is always good. It is much better than sowing poisoned seeds between people. If we disturbed with peaceful words we need intensified mental threatment.
ReplyDeleteJacky Gosee's Meley, HOT Remix for Asmarino - EthioTube
http://www.ethiotube.net/video/34249/Jacky-Gosees-Meley-HOT-Remix-for-Asmarino
Making festival for hatsie yohannes, increasing number of tigrean diaspora knowing its power, distributing eritrean movies, copying comedies of suzinino acting like security, copiying plan of asmara in mekele, shabia means of handling things, copying music, most of successful in ethio now were in eri or have been there in bussiness, politics, art. This all shows how eritreans have become an influencing ppl and singing songs in eritrean tigrigna dialect knowing that it can get more market i bleave is smarness, only they must follow the proper way to copy or distribute coz the ethio ppl they dont know the truth for example gosaye AA song abela when they heared the original song they told me he copied it from gosaye. But to influence more ppl is good.
ReplyDeleteThe f@cking Agame and their inferiority complex. Even their handlers know them that they have inferiority complex to-words Eritreans.
ReplyDeleteEven Ambassador David Shinn said when he was in Ethiopia, he said... one of the causes of the 1998-2001 border war was the perceived inferiority complex that Tigrayans have towards Eritreans and the score settling they
felt they needed to do as a result once they had access to the resources of a larger state.
check this out. The guy is on a big problem, hope all musicians copyright be respected and true !
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUgo_qBnsGo&src_vid=i__AfnTRboo&feature=iv&annotation_id=54ca85d6-0000-2767-93c9-001a1147517a
Go to hell !
ReplyDeleteWe make love with your women by fyameta. You are so easy to fall in love.
ReplyDeleteYgerem eu bro... B'rhats Eritreawian kbletsu... inferiority complex is to blame. They always want what Eritrea have. Amsilom y'hwat Ena Endabelu Ketfueuna!!.. ናዓá‹áˆ² ኣብ ሎቆታ፤ በለት ኣንáŒá‹‹!!! the good thing about us ናá‹áˆŽáˆš ዎሎዶ we never trust the pple from the South period!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOoGBi1Fst8
ReplyDeleteBest version
ReplyDeleteSukbel habeshas habesha ika.
Habesha aykonkun ! ERITRAWI iye !
ReplyDeleteMy fallen Heroes gave me the pride to call myself ERITREAN. The word -Eritrean- would not be even possible to name it during cruel derg existance in my country.But thanks to those generous men/women who paid their life to give me such magnificient, dignified PRIDE ! Bless their soul.
One more time I am ERITREAN and not Habesha.
BTW Eritrea is made out of NINE Tribes and not only Habesha. Put that in your IGNORANT Skull.
FUNNY PEOPLE,AND FUNNY IDEAS...POOR YOU!
ReplyDeletepoor is you beggar , no back bone, no identity, no balls….. hiding behind habesha myth like rat. disgusting half rat half sneak agame
ReplyDelete