Majida El-Roumi’s office recently issued a statement denouncing a Lebanese band’s infringement of artistic property rights.
This band is Kimaera, a popular Lebanese death metal band founded in 2000 by Jean-Pierre Haddad, a Lebanese vocalist and guitarist.
Majida El-Roumi’s office condemned the band exploiting her song “Ya Beirut” commercially by filming a video that was broadcasted on Lebanese TV stations without permission.
The statement added, “These acts committed by the band are crimes punishable by the Lebanese law and constitute a clear violation of the material and moral rights guaranteed by Law No. 75 on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property issued on 3/4/1999 for each the author of the song, the great late poet Nizar Qabbani, its great composer, musician Jamal Salameh, in addition to the rights of Mrs. Majida Al-Roumi.”
They described the video filmed by Kimaera as “a hybrid work that spreads violence and blackness and includes strange sounds and melodies that aroused astonishment.”
The office then confirmed that they will file a lawsuit against the band. They also asked all Lebanese TV stations to stop broadcasting the cover.
Noting that the cover of “Ya Beirut” by Kimaera was released on October 27th with the following statement: “After a year in the making, it gives us enormous pleasure to release this — Ya Beirut. Dedicated to the city we love — however, broken it is — we couldn’t think of a better way to mark our 20th anniversary in the Metal scene and pay tribute to our capital, the birthplace of KIMAERA.”
The video now has over 57 thousand views on YouTube.
