On 21 June of this year, the judge of the Court of First Instance rendered a judgment in summary proceedings in the case brought by the well-known Curaçaoan baseball player Kenley Jansen (owner of the music group Icons), together with Messrs Pastor and Mambi (managers of Icons), against the highly talented musician and composer Brian Dekkers.
This was not the first time Brian Dekkers had been summoned to court by Jansen. Exactly two years earlier, a similar “musical” summary proceeding had already taken place between the same parties concerning several copyright-protected works within the official—and widely danceable—Curaçaoan music genre Ritmo Kombiná. While the infectious melodies of Ritmo Kombiná are meant to bring people together on the dance floor, certain sounds caused quite a bit of bochincha in the Curaçaoan music scene. With its judgment in summary proceedings, the court once again compelled the parties to pause and reflect on the strict rhythm and cadence of copyright law.
The first summary proceeding revolved around the musical works “Bon Tené” and “Chula Chula,” which Brian Dekkers composed, arranged, wrote lyrics for, and performed together with the members of Catipá (Carolina and De Palm) in the studio at Bugs Bunny snèk in Mahaai. An agreement was also reached regarding the division of royalty revenues from these two songs, allocating 50 percent to Dekkers and 40 percent to Decoded (the well-known Pastor and Mambi). This division clearly reflects the substantial contribution made by Dekkers to the musical works.
Not long thereafter, the collaboration between Dekkers and Jansen came to an end. The musical gem “Bon Tené” was subsequently transformed by Decoded and Catipá into the song “Amor Real,” which was released to the public by Icons, the music group owned by Kenley Jansen. The music video for the song was uploaded to the YouTube channels of Jansen and Decoded.
Although Brian Dekkers was not involved in the creation of “Amor Real,” the court had already ruled in the 2022 summary proceedings initiated by Kenley Jansen that Dekkers must nevertheless be regarded as a creator (co-author) of Amor Real. In doing so, the court pointed out that Jansen et al. had failed to respect Dekkers’ copyright during the production of Amor Real, among other things by incorporating two “samples” or “chops” featuring Dekkers’ voice into the song without his consent. The court further admonished Jansen et al. to respect Dekkers’ moral rights, as the work concerned joint authorship. According to the court, Dekkers therefore even has a right to a share of the income generated through the exploitation of Amor Real.
This time, in 2024, Kenley Jansen et al. requested the summary proceedings judge to order Brian Dekkers to remove the songs “Chula Chula” and “Bon Tené,” as well as the related cover versions, from the internet within 24 hours. Jansen also sought to compel Dekkers to provide information regarding the number of times Chula Chula had been downloaded on music platforms such as YouTube and Spotify. Last month, the court rejected nearly all of Jansen’s claims. In its judgment, the court made it clear that “Chula Chula” and “Bon Tené” are subject to joint copyright.
Contrary to what Kenley Jansen et al. contended, the court ruled that it cannot be said that their share in the joint copyright of Bon Tené and Chula Chula outweighs that of Brian Dekkers to such an extent that only Jansen would be entitled to decide whether the musical works may be published. The fact that Decoded possesses the recording files of the musical works and that Kenley Jansen financed the recording of Amor Real is, in the absence of contractual agreements to that effect, irrelevant to the allocation of copyright shares among the creators. After all, the court held, Bon Tené and Chula Chula were created with the intention of being released—not to be shelved and stored away.
Accordingly, the court ruled that Kenley Jansen, Decoded, and the members of Catipá may no longer refuse to allow Brian Dekkers, as co-author, to publish the musical works—certainly not given that they themselves proceeded to publish Amor Real, of which Dekkers was designated a co-author. In its recent judgment, the court established a provisional management arrangement, determining, among other things, that Bon Tené and Chula Chula may be published by both Kenley Jansen and Brian Dekkers in their (virtually) original versions. From this, I infer that the court took into account the “personal touch” that—true to Curaçaoan tradition—both Brian Dekkers and the music group Icons are likely to add to the musical works during live performances.
Without the consent of all copyright holders, it is therefore prohibited to adapt, modify, or publicly perform the musical works through third parties. Brian Dekkers will accordingly remove the version of Chula Chula—strictly speaking a “cover” of his own work—which he released after the first summary proceedings together with the Curaçaoan music group One Flavaz, from the internet and replace it with the very best version of Chula Chula: his own version.
Brian Dekkers, who with his talent as a lyricist and composer penetrated the very soul of the Curaçaoan music world many years ago, has thus found himself involved in two legal proceedings over the two songs he composed. Ultimately, the court ruled that no one—not even Kenley Jansen—can prohibit Brian Dekkers from publishing his own musical works. In other words, Brian Dekkers does not have to sing a lower tune.
Stay tuned for the project “I AM BRIAN D.”