I Won’t Sue People Who Use My Songs- Esther Smith

Veteran Ghanaian singer Esther Smith says she has no plan to sue persons who sample her song for various purposes without her authorisation.

The musician who has returned to Ghana after a decade says she welcomes such with joy as she feels it rather advances the Kingdom of God.

Speaking during one of her multiple media tours ahead of her concert in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region and subsequently in the Greater Accra Region, she cited an instance where she was confronted by an individual who accused her of turning a blind eye to the illegal use of her songs.

“Someone called me to tell me he had plans of suing some group of people for sampling his song without his authorisation. He said ‘Many people have sampled your songs and you are sitting idle’.

“Then I advised him to stop because not everyone can write a song. I feel happy when people sing my song because I believe it advances the Kingdom of God.”

She is of the view that not everyone can develop lyrics for music, adding, “We all came to meet a lot of songs we don’t even know their composers but we all jam to them. The last time I was in the US for a concert, I sang a song by Daughters of Glorious Jesus…”

A conversation about gospel artists demanding proper use of their artistic works came up some time ago when Ghanaian music producer Kwame Mickey accused Team Eternity Ghana (TEG) of sampling part of his song produced and released 20 years ago.

In a statement dated July 1, the producer said he had granted the group a non-exclusive right to use in their song also titled “Defe Defe”.

It also said they had entered into a Licence Agreement resulting in an amicable resolution.