Dladleng, promoter in copyright war
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday November 29, 2017 16:30
Laputo broke the news on Facebook claiming to own the logo of the third annual Gaabo Motho Music Festival scheduled for Christmas Eve at Dladleng Recreational Park in Moshupa. In the post he clearly outlined that he is no longer part of Dladleng Entertainment and the latter will never use his logo. “No more hide and seek, this logo belongs to Monate Khokho Entertainment. I’m not in this industry for jokes or fame but for money,” read the post.
Showbiz contacted Laputo for further comment and he said initially Dladleng came up with the name and approached him.
“I told them that the logo was not good enough to sell the business so I took it upon myself to engage my graphic designer who then designed two logos,” he explained. Laputo whose real name is Larona Molale said after designing a proper logo for the concept he gave a watermarked logo to the managing director and owner of Dladleng Entertainment Centre, Oscar Dlamini Thebe because he wanted to keep the rights.
“Thebe went behind my back to register a watermarked logo at CIPA using his financial strength. The case was at the courts of law at one point but Dlamini in the end asked for it to be settled outside the courts”. He said after a brief reconciliation between the two he was engaged to organise the upcoming festival but pulled out because of unprofessionalism within the company. He said he had approached CIPA but was then directed to seek help at Serious Crimes because the issue is classified as fraud.
“I want an order for him not to use my logo,” he said. For his part, Thebe said they could not control what Laputo writes on his Facebook wall. He told Showbiz that Laputo is destroying the good name of the event.
“The logo and the event belong to Dladleng and it’s protected and we can even produce the proof,” he said. Thebe explained that Laputo was not even an employee of Dladleng. “We always engaged him whenever there was an event, but we are no longer working with him,” he said. Thebe said whenever there is a conflict between two different parties everyone always has his side of the story.
“The truth is that Laputo doesn’t have the power to stop our event and it will continue as planned,” he said. Thebe was also quick to say that Laputo was tasked with the role of promoting the event and is not even a shareholder at Dladleng.
Both parties have presented a copy of their proofs showing their entitlement to the rights of Gaabo Motho Festival logo. CIPA spokesperson Marietta Magashula said she would investigate the matter further.
South African artists, DJ Tira, Naak Musiq, Dr Malinga and Sun El Music man of Akanamali fame, will headline the festival.