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7 J. Int'l Com. L. & Tech. 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/jcolate7 and id is 1 raw text is: JICLT Journal of International Co m :er'al Law and Technology Vol. 7, Issue 1 (2012) The sleeping lion needed protection - lessons from the Mbube* (Lion King) debacle Matome Melford Ratiba Senior Lecturer, College of Law University of South Africa (UNISA) Ratibmm aunisa.ac.za Abstract: In 1939 a young musician from the Zulu cultural group in South Africa, penned down what came to be the most popular albeit controversial and internationally acclaimed song of the times. Popular because the song somehow found its way into international households via the renowned Disney's Lion King. Controversial because the popularity passage of the song was tainted with illicit and grossly unfair dealings tantamount to theft and dishonest misappropriation of traditional intellectual property, giving rise to a lawsuit that ultimately culminated in the out of court settlement of the case. The lessons to be gained by the world and emanating from this dramatics, all pointed out to the dire need for a reconsideration of measures to be urgently put in place for the sqfeguarding of cultural intellectual relic such as music and dance. 1. Introduction Music has been and, and continues to be, important to all people around the world. Music is part of a group's cultural identity; it reflects their past and separates them from surrounding people. Music is rooted in the culture of a society in the same ways that food, dress and language are. Looked at from this perspective, music therefore constitute an integral part of cultural property that inarguably requires concerted and decisive efforts towards preservation and protection of same from unjust exploitation and prevalent illicit transfer of same. The duty to do so becomes even more necessary and critical in countries such as South Africa and a majority of other first and third world countries sharing the common characteristic of being multi-cultured. In 1939 a young musician from the Zulu cultural group in South Africa, penned down what came to be the most popular albeit controversial and internationally acclaimed song of the times. Popular because the song somehow found its way into international households via the renowned Disney's Lion King. Controversial because the popularity passage of the song was tainted with illicit and grossly unfair dealings tantamount to theft and dishonest misappropriation of traditional intellectual property, giving rise to a lawsuit that ultimately culminated in the out of court settlement of the case. The lessons to be gained by the world and emanating from this dramatics, all pointed out to the dire need for a reconsideration of measures to be urgently put in place for the safeguarding of cultural intellectual relic such as music and dance. In this exposition various ways of protecting cultural music and/or dance within the broad category of folklore, as well as ways of preventing the illicit dealing thereof are investigated. This is done by firstly presenting a brief outline of the Solomon Linda story accompanied by the shortcomings and/or dramatics relating thereto. This is followed secondly by a discussion of various initiatives, (be they suggested, proposed or otherwise) taken both territorially and in the international arena, and also geared towards preserving and protecting cultural property. In this feat, the paper will touch on and address where possible, both the following aspects, which are :(a) Intangible cultural expression (music) in the context of intellectual property and copyright regimes; (b) Intangible cultural expression (music) in the context of indigenous traditional knowledge systems. Lastly a review of the progress regarding endeavours (if any) made by South Africa and pertaining to . Zulu word for lion.

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