Under copyright law, ‘Fatshe Leno La Rona’ is classified as government intellectual property and Motsete cannot claim royalties. Mokobi was speaking a week after COSBOTS gave its first royalties but left out Motsete. He explained that there are provisions for beneficiaries to claim on behalf of the owner if he/she is late. In the case of Motsete, there are no beneficiaries and the commissioning of the song was done between the composer and the government.
He said in this context, the song belongs to government. Moreover, Motsete’s family has not demanded royalties. Mokobi explained that if there is anything to be paid, then the family can deal directly with the government. He said the case of Motsetse is different from that of Ricks Morake, a former Radio Botswana employee. Morake composed theme songs for various RB programmes and claimed royalties. Mokobi said there may be different agreements that determine how the compositions are viewed. “It depends on the commissioning of the work that gives reference to the view of the work and in Morake’s case, the rights of the song belonged to him whereas for the National Anthem, it belongs to the government,” explained Mokobi.
