Julius Malema ©

Bloody Agent on the DanceFLOOR
So Malema did/said something stupid again- this really isn’t anything new now is it? And as uh, creative or unique his comments may be each time, the novelty of his stupidity does get old. Being creative and frustrated minds in the media industry we tend to find comfort in satire; ZA News and Zapiro did a good job of dealing with Zuma, and now, coming to a dance floor near you, ‘Revolutionary House’ featuring our one and only, Julius Malema!
For those who haven’t heard it yet, this infectious dance beat includes the infamous quotes from the ANC Youth League media briefing, where Malema sent out a BBC reporter for supposedly being a ‘bloody agent’ and ‘bastard’ (making up the chorus of the hit). From the mouth of the horse itself:

Forced out of ANCYL meeting and called a bastard by Julius Malema. What did I do? Pointed out that he lives in Sandton...less than a minute ago via webJonah Fisher
JonahFisher

After he'd launched into a tirade about Mickey Mouse opposition in ZImbabwe speaking from "airconditioned Sandton" not Mashonaland.less than a minute ago via webJonah Fisher
JonahFisher

ANCYL have issued a statement inviting me to apologise. Hhm....less than a minute ago via TweetDeckJonah Fisher
JonahFisher

Funeral over. The heavens have opened. And the ANC have told Malema to apologise. Waiting for the phone to ring. #malema #terreblancheless than a minute ago via TweetDeckJonah Fisher
JonahFisher

But that's the politics side, the actual event. What I'm interested in here is the awesome dance track that has popped up as a result of it! It really is worth listening to, and by simply typing ‘revolutionary house’ into Google you will gain access to several sites from which to download it- BUT NOTE, the mp3 is likely to contain copyrights and intellectual property rights.
Copyrighting and Intellectual Property
Which brings me to my point; how do copyrights work online? Information accessed online is subjected to copyright laws, just as print sources are. If you are looking to copy or distribute information or media found online, check the site for a copyright notice or usage statement. If there is no statement or notice, or the available one is unclear, it is your responsibility to contact the site owner or author to request permission for use. If you are looking to use the information or media on a website of your own, then it is usually best to simply provide a link or URL address ; but bear in mind that the legality of linking is still sticky, so it’s always best to include a disclaimer of some sort that will inform the user that the information or media that they are linking to may be copyrighted or contain intellectual property rights. A handy guide to basic copyright laws can be found at http://www.ais.up.ac.za/copyright/ematerial.htm
So now back to Malema; how legal exactly is the creation of this song? Consider that the audio clip used has most likely been obtained online and is now used in an artistic production which could be generating a profit for the artist. Say, for example, the artist obtained the audio clip off YouTube; YouTube’s terms of service, which can be found at the bottom of their home page or at http://www.youtube.com/t/dmca_policy. YouTube uses a search algorithm to probe the soundtracks of all of its videos to ensure that the music used in mashups does not violate the copyright of those record labels with which it has an agreement. If the 'Revolutionary House' mix violated copyright of an organisation that wanted it down, they would request a takedown notice, and this has not happened.

The other option is that the artist is not only a musical genius, but a journalist too; he was present at the conference and used his own digital audio recording of the events. Given that it was a press conference and that the media were invited to attend and report on the events, it should be perfectly legal for those news channels and radio channels to broadcast these audio and visual clips. Okay, granted this song is not exactly being distributed by a news or media organisation, nor was it in its original form, but bear with me for a second. If this audio clip was obtained legally, and the way that it has been altered in no way that changes what was said, or the meaning of what was said, and the mp3 is being distributed for free- then we are only stuck with the same problem shared by millions of site owners and author’s; information and media obtained legally has leaked out and is now being used for purposes not originally intended by the author. Doesn’t look like such a little problem now hey?
And the last option; Malema has heard the song, he likes it, and has approved it for sales- for a negotiated payment of royalties of course (see www.samro.org.za, the South African Music Rights Organisation established to protect the intellectual property of composers and authors). I say let the man have his royalties and his moment on the Top 40- hell, he has more chance at a successful career in music than in politics