Warner sends an invoice because of the Jerusalema Challenge – what to do?

Whether on YouTube, Facebook or Tik Tok – the Jerusalema Challenge has been an integral part of social media in recent times.

Originally meant to spread fun and cheer people up during lockdown, it is now taking a different turn. The music company Warner Music intervened and asked participants to pay license fees.

What is the Jerusalema Challenge?

One song, one choreography, many participants. The song “Jerusalema” by Kgaogelo Moagi aka Master KG served as the basis for the challenge, in which hospitals, churches, fire departments, police stations and many others took part. In the videos, those involved danced with masks and a safe distance and published them on the Internet.

Warner Musik wants to support artists

But now especially those who were able to increase their “reputation” through the distribution of their clips should pay license fees to Warner. This primarily affects frequently shared or quoted amounts in which the song can be heard. A spokeswoman for the music company justified this in a press release by saying that “artists should be paid for their music in difficult times.” Those affected will probably be asked to pay informally via email or post in the near future.

Some payments have already been made

Some companies, as well as police departments and fire stations, have already paid the payment request and acquired a so-called synchronization license for “Jerusalema”. This was confirmed by, among others, the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior and the legal department of the Globus department store group.

A lot of criticism of Warner's approach

Meanwhile, Warner Music's actions attracted numerous critics. The music giant has now rejected allegations of wanting to profit from the situation by creating tiered license fees. The amount of the payment should be adjusted to the “respective general conditions” of the person concerned and “purely symbolic amounts” should also be possible.

How much does a license cost?

A well-known sentence: It depends. The cost of a music license depends on the time in which the license is to be used, the length of the video, the locations of publication and the type of integration of the piece of music. In acute cases, the production costs of the video must also be stated and how high the price is that a user would like to pay. For “Jerusalema”, those interested in a license must contact the music publisher Warner Chappell Music, register there and provide the above information.

What to do when the payment request comes?

Lawyer and online law expert Christan Solmecke recommends that if you receive a payment request, you should have a lawyer check the exact amount. Although he describes Warner Music's behavior in this case as "morally criticizable", he sees the law on the side of the music company. According to Solmecke, checking the “appropriateness” is particularly recommended for particularly high demands.

To delete or not to delete?

In addition, Solmecke advises not to publish any further videos without the necessary license rights and to remove those that have already been uploaded from the Internet. However, simply deleting the videos from a platform is not enough in some cases, as music companies can also charge “license fees for the previous use of the song”.

Jerusalema Challenge scandal: Warner Music cashes in on rescuers | Attorney Christian Solmecke

Source:

Warner sends invoices because of the Jerusalema Challenge: Do I have to pay the high sum? – CHIP

Article image: Shutterstock / By UfaBizPhoto

Guest author: Annika Hommer from “ Something With Writing ”