Questions over ‘Biggie Iries’ song

Excerpts from his winning song “Nah Going Home” is believed to have been sampled from the ever popular 1987 hit “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by Irish pop group U2 off their Joshua Tree album.

There are claims Irie’s song was unfair to other competitors in the Soca Monarch competition who authored and rendered completely original works, including Nadia Batson and former champion Shurwayne Winchester. The Bajan artiste pocketed $150,000 for his effort.

CEO of the Copyright Organisation (COTT) Allison Demas said, “Sampling someone else’s tune is allowed and only becomes illegal when it is unauthorised. There is no limit to the length of music an artiste can sample, once they have the permission of the original music composer/writer.”

She explained that as long as a piece of music used is recognisable, that is sampling, “it is up to the artiste and their representatives to make their case. This is common copyright law throughout the world.”

When Newsday called Biggie Irie in Barbados, his manager Santiah Bradshaw said he was unavailable and she was not ready to comment on the issue yet.

Singer/songwriter Nadia Batson who placed third in the Groovy and second in the Power Soca categories, said, “I always try to be creative and original, so I don’t have to defend my work. We have a practice in this country for the rules to go up and down but it’s either we are sticking by something or not.

“Anyway, I am quite happy with my third place and I will come strong again next year.”

Meanwhile, William Munroe of Caribbean Prestige Foundation which promoted the finals told Newsday that the judges’ decision will stay. “Biggie Irie sang that same song from the preliminaries to the semi-finals and made it to the finals where he won after a very good performance,” Munroe said.

“The judges gave him the nod and I am standing by that. I don’t want to get into any controversy over the song, but if it is a sample, then people should have drawn the reference before. They only protesting now because he won,” Munroe added.