Musicians: be aware of copyright issues

I would like to clarify that we Inuit probably do not understand much about copyright music. There are a number of occasions when APTN or CBC North Radio play music that is copyright protected, and it is hard to know whether the musicians ever asked permission to copy their music.

Once the music is copied without the consent of the original musician, the companies that air the music or the musicians are usually sued by the original musicians, so therefore, we have to be very careful whether it is copied without the consent of the original artists.

It is a number of times that I have heard of Smilin’ Johnny’s music sung by Mr. Charlie Panigoniak, titled “Aikiiwanna,” and the lyrics are changed to Inuktitut. Another song is “Jambalaya,” sung by a lady with Inuktitut versions, and I am sure there are others we have to be careful of. Just to be on a safe side. Thank you.

Charlie Kowcharlie
Inukjuak