Din Din Wala is Creole Song in the Public Domain

The late Leela Vernon was one of Belize’s pride and joys for her exemplary effort in helping to salvage the Creole culture through music.  And when she passed away in February of 2017, Belizeans were saddened, but her memory lives on in her music that is used at cultural events and occasions that Belizeans celebrate at home and abroad. So when a musical piece going by the same name as Leela’s Din Din Wala performed by a Guatemalan artist surfaced this weekend, it was the recipe for a stark social media attack.   While the verses are different from Leela’s Creole version and the intro to the song appeared to be a remix, the chorus of the song, which is what made it popular and unique to Leela in the first place was the same as hers. But while the Guatemalan singer, Kimberly Flores got flak from the public, the Belizean Society of Composers, Authors, Publishers says because the musical work is a traditional Creole song, it appears to be a public domain work, which means that no exclusive intellectual property rights apply, and no permission needs to be obtained.   In its release on Monday, BSCAP states “Anyone can record the song, and even create a derivative work, which is the case here since Kimberly Flores’ song is in a different language.  Works enter public domain after copyright has expired, if the owner has forfeited their rights or places the work as public domain.” BSCAP says that it agrees with Minister of Culture, Francis Fonseca, that we must understand the absolute importance of our artists legally registering and protecting their individual, original works.” BSCAP calls on the Government to collaborate, dialogue, and take necessary measures by actively enforcing copyright laws.