MIRIAM MAKEBA HAS COPYRIGHT DRAMA: Singer says her material is being aired on South African TV witho

MIRIAM MAKEBA HAS COPYRIGHT DRAMA: Singer says her material is being aired on South African TV without permission.

 

 

*South African treasure Miriam Makeba says she's had enough of her work being broadcast on the nation's airwaves willy nilly and without her permission.        

       The singer, 75, says she will file a lawsuit against the South African Broadcasting Corp. for copyright infringement, alleging they have repeatedly aired her material without getting the proper approval.      

       Her manager Dumisani Motha said the last straw came when SABC1 aired her show, "Miriam at Bern Salonger," on Monday without permission, reports Variety.       

       "Mama Makeba owns all the African rights to her work but the SABC continues to broadcast her work without obtaining permission from her," Motha said. "The fact that the material is sitting in their archives does not mean they have the license to use it."       

       Makeba gained international attention with her role in anti-apartheid documentary "Come Back, Africa," which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1959. In 1963, the South African government revoked her citizenship after she testified before the United Nations about apartheid, and she lived and performed in exile until 1990.