This documentary provides a good background on the origins of a popular song. It's a story about greed, but the "victims" are the most greedy of all. The premise is that Solomon Linda wrote and performed a song, and he received no credit or royalties for it, and others made money from Linda's work.
It's not clear Linda even wrote the song component, Mbube. For all anyone knows, he heard around campfire in the bush, and then was the first to record it.
Then, there are the various attorneys being accused of ripping off Linda's estate, and not paying royalties due. There is some indication of this.
Then, there's the anglicized version, Wimoweh, which is derivative of the original.
Then, there's the famous version, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which offers lyrics. "Mbube" just means "lion", according to multiple sources in the movie, so I think we can be sure that the tune doesn't became famous with the lyrics: lion, lion, lion, lion...
The do-gooder journalist tries to right things for the poor daughters of Linda, who themselves did nothing to earn the money, and then they, new attorneys and the journalist do not go after everyone whoever made money on the song, but Disney, because they used it in a successful movie and have deep pockets to go after. (Does Disney even use the song if they know that it would be royalty-bearing? Would they have used the original tune or the commercial version with lyrics that were not Linda's?)
In the end, the journalist discovers he's been duped, for all his ill-conceived intentions. Poor daughters? Nope. Just inheritance mongers off the blood, sweat and tears of others.
It's not clear Linda even wrote the song component, Mbube. For all anyone knows, he heard around campfire in the bush, and then was the first to record it.
Then, there are the various attorneys being accused of ripping off Linda's estate, and not paying royalties due. There is some indication of this.
Then, there's the anglicized version, Wimoweh, which is derivative of the original.
Then, there's the famous version, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which offers lyrics. "Mbube" just means "lion", according to multiple sources in the movie, so I think we can be sure that the tune doesn't became famous with the lyrics: lion, lion, lion, lion...
The do-gooder journalist tries to right things for the poor daughters of Linda, who themselves did nothing to earn the money, and then they, new attorneys and the journalist do not go after everyone whoever made money on the song, but Disney, because they used it in a successful movie and have deep pockets to go after. (Does Disney even use the song if they know that it would be royalty-bearing? Would they have used the original tune or the commercial version with lyrics that were not Linda's?)
In the end, the journalist discovers he's been duped, for all his ill-conceived intentions. Poor daughters? Nope. Just inheritance mongers off the blood, sweat and tears of others.