p2pnet.net News:- In 1932 Solomon Linda wrote a song he called Mbube. He and the Evening Birds recorded it as a 78 in 1939 and by 1949, some 100,000 copies had been sold.

If you were around in the 60s, you’d have recognized it as Wimoweh (from the Zulu uyiMbube).

Then it showed up as The Lion Sleeps Tonight in Walt Disney’s The Lion King.

Mbube has earned an estimated $38.5 million in royalties since it was written, says South Africa’s The Advertiser here.

However, when Linda died in 1962, he was penniless and “Mr Linda’s impoverished family have only received about $38,500,” says the story.

The worldwide copyright for Mbube was sold to a Johanesburg firm, but under British laws in effect at the time, those rights should have reverted to his heirs 25 years after his death in 1962, says Mariam Isa, going on:

“This means Mr Linda’s surviving three daughters and 10 grandchildren were entitled to a share of royalties from the song.”

Linda’s 16-year old grandson Zathele Madonsela, who lives with his family in Soweto, said, “Life is difficult, we are really struggling,” according to a BBC story here.

Executors of Linda’s estate are seeking further royalties from three South African companies “who have benefited from royalty income from the song, which has so far been recorded by 140 bands,” it adds.

Disney is well known as a champion of copyrights, especially where they apply to Disney. It will therefore no doubt pay Linda’s family without a quibble.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 5th, 2004 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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