Nigerian comedian and skitmaker Chukwuebuka Amuzie, also known as Brain Jotter, recently discussed the concerns surrounding the use of Mike Ejeagha’s 1983 hit “Onye Ori Utaba” in his viral dance challenge.
“For those of you who believe that we have taken advantage of him or that we are earning money off of this whole situation, I empathise with your worries and consider them to be quite real.
The statement was made by Brain Jotter on Tuesday, when he released a video of his visit to the music legend.
“I want you to understand that you are doing something good, and I appreciate the fact that you want him to get value for his hard work, which is very valid,” he said.
He kindly explained, “By the end of the day, I didn’t make any money from this song, nothing like that.”
Brain Jotter went into more detail about how to make money from content on different sites.
“All the music I put out there – on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube – all the revenue goes to Mike Ejeagha’s record label and production company,” he explained.
He went into detail about how various platforms handle copyright protection.
These networks have copyright violation capabilities, you cannot even monetise another person’s song,” he explained. If I upload the video to YouTube, they will take legal action for copyright infringement and pay Mike Ejeagha, the rightful owner, the money.
When you share it on Facebook, the platform will kindly inform you that the song does not belong to you, but to someone else. They distribute the revenue to the rightful owner.
The comedian pointed out a great result of the viral challenge, mentioning that the song received a huge boost in streams on streaming platforms, even though they couldn’t personally upload it there. All the revenues are going directly to Mike Ejeagha, which is great!
Brain Jotter said, “The two million I gave him was from my pocket. My money goes to charity, not profit. None of this is for profit.”
He also expressed appreciation for the happiness the challenge has brought. We have received the reward, which has brought immense joy to his heart. He expressed satisfaction in the success he brought me,” he said.
