{"id":3738,"date":"2006-03-23T00:08:21","date_gmt":"2006-03-23T08:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2006\/03\/23\/wimoweh-lawsuit-won\/"},"modified":"2019-12-20T09:23:12","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T17:23:12","slug":"wimoweh-lawsuit-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2006\/03\/23\/wimoweh-lawsuit-won\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimoweh Lawsuit Won"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:6756,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.3rdearmusic.com\\\/forum\\\/mbube2.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.3rdearmusic.com\\\/forum\\\/mbube2.html&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:6757,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.cnn.com\\\/2006\\\/SHOWBIZ\\\/Music\\\/03\\\/22\\\/lion.sleeps.royalty.ap\\\/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.cnn.com\\\/2006\\\/SHOWBIZ\\\/Music\\\/03\\\/22\\\/lion.sleeps.royalty.ap\\\/index.html?section=cnn_topstories&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:6221,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/click.linksynergy.com\\\/fs-bin\\\/click?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941.10000170&amp;type=4&amp;subid=0&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:6758,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/click.linksynergy.com\\\/fs-bin\\\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DNylons%26partnerId%3D30&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<blockquote><p>\n  In the jungle,<br \/>\n  The mighty jungle,<br \/>\n  The lawyers sleep tonight&#8230;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Heh.<\/p>\n<p>Back in July of &#8217;03 I <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2003\/07\/wimoweh.html\" title=\"Eclecticism: Wimoweh\">pointed to<\/a> an incredible <a href=\"http:\/\/www.3rdearmusic.com\/forum\/mbube2.html\" title=\"3rd Ear Music Forum: Where does the lion sleep tonight?\">in-depth look at the story of &#8216;Wimoweh&#8217;<\/a>, the South African tune most popularly known as the melody for &#8220;The Lion Sleeps Tonight&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>A year later, in July of &#8217;04, came word that <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2004\/07\/disney_sued_ove.html\" title=\"Eclecticism: Disney sued over 'Wimoweh'\">Disney was being sued<\/a> by the heirs of &#8216;Wimoweh&#8217; author Solomon Linda.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the case has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2006\/SHOWBIZ\/Music\/03\/22\/lion.sleeps.royalty.ap\/index.html?section=cnn_topstories\" title=\"CNN: 'Lion' daughters win landmark case\">won by Linda&#8217;s family<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  No one is saying how many millions will go to the daughters of the late composer Solomon Linda, who died in poverty from a curable kidney disease in 1962 at age 53.<\/p>\n<p>  But the family&#8217;s settlement with New York-based Abilene Music, which gives Linda&#8217;s heirs 25 percent of past and future royalties, has broad implications.<\/p>\n<p>  [&#8230;] In the 1950s, at a time when apartheid laws robbed blacks of negotiating rights, Linda sold worldwide copyright to Gallo Records of South Africa for 10 shillings &#8212; less than $1.70.<\/p>\n<p>  Gallo also tried to sell the work in the United States, but American folk singer Pete Seeger had adapted a version that he called &#8220;Wimoweh.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>  [&#8230;] It remains to be seen how the settlement with Abilene, which holds the copyright to the popular songs that grew from Linda&#8217;s composition, will affect his family. Abilene music could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p>  Of his three surviving daughters, only the youngest has a job, as a nurse, and she still lives in the family home in Soweto, a satellite suburb set up for black workers under apartheid.<\/p>\n<p>  Her sisters never reached high school. One runs a home-based grocers. The other recently lost her job cleaning a doctor&#8217;s office and supports a daughter who gets occasional work cleaning homes.<\/p>\n<p>  Linda&#8217;s fourth daughter died of AIDS in her 30s in 2002 as the lawsuit dragged on, without money to buy drugs that could have saved her life.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Neat to see the story finally reach resolution. I highly recommend reading the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.3rdearmusic.com\/forum\/mbube2.html\" title=\"3rd Ear Music Forum: Where does the lion sleep tonight?\">3rd Ear article<\/a> that details the origins of the song and what happened to Linda and his family.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/click?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941.10000170&amp;type=4&amp;subid=0\" title=\"Get iTunes\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"iTunes\" border=\"0\" width=\"61\" height=\"15\" src=\"http:\/\/images.apple.com\/itunesaffiliates\/logos\/iTunes_sm_bdg61x15.png\" \/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/ad.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/show?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;bids=78941.10000170&amp;type=4&amp;subid=0\" alt=\"\" \/> &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DNylons%2526songTerm=Lion Sleeps Tonight, The (Wimoweh)%26partnerId%3D30\" title=\"Search for 'Lion Sleeps Tonight, The (Wimoweh)' on the iTMS\">Lion Sleeps Tonight, The (Wimoweh)<\/a>&#8221; by <a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DNylons%26partnerId%3D30\" title=\"Search for 'Nylons' on the iTMS\">Nylons<\/a> from the album <em><a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DNylons%2526albumTerm=Best of the Nylons%26partnerId%3D30\" title=\"Search for 'Best of the Nylons' on the iTMS\">Best of the Nylons<\/a><\/em> (1993, 3:12).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in July of &#8217;03 I pointed to an incredible [in-depth look at the story of &#8216;Wimoweh&#8217;. In July of &#8217;04 came word that Disney was being sued by the heirs of &#8216;Wimoweh&#8217; author Solomon Linda. Finally, the case has been won by Linda&#8217;s family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2035],"tags":[80,2363],"class_list":["post-3738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-music","tag-wimoweh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}