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Ambitious Entertainment loses expensive court case against Blaq Diamond
In a statement the record company says it has accepted a court judgement that ruled against them in a battle against their former artists, but say they might appeal.
Free at last: Music pair Blaq Diamond have just won a case against their former record label, Ambitious Entertainment. Picture: Blaq Diamond/Instagram
“In light of the court order Ambitious Entertainment accepts it with utmost respect and will comply accordingly. However, we would like to inform our valued supporters that we will be diligently exploring the available legal avenues to appeal the judgement. We believe it is important to exercise our right to respectfully challenge the decision and seek further clarity,” said Ambitious Entertainment in a statement.
This after Blaq Diamond, which is made up of Ndumiso Mdletshe and Sphelele Dunywa, filed an urgent court application against the label for taking down their music on YouTube and other streaming platforms.
They celebrated their victory by sharing the court order on their social media. However, The Citizen’s attempt to get comment from the duo was unsuccessful.
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Ambitious accepts but…
“We want to reiterate that, as instructed by the honourable acting Judge Wanless, Ambitious Entertainment will not be instituting any copyright strikes against works or music authored by Blaq Diamond from 15 June 2022 onwards. We aim to uphold the court’s decision in this regards,” said Ambitious Entertainment.
“Nevertheless, in line with the court judgement, Ambitious Entertainment will continue to raise copyright and ownership disputes against works authored by Blaq Diamond prior to 15 June 2022. This also includes the song Qoma. We are committed to addressing these disputes within the framework of the legal process.”
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Leaving Ambitious
Blaq Diamond made headlines last year when they came out and said that they’re independent artists after leaving Ambitious Entertainment.
The award-winning duo from KZN explained on Podcast and Chill with MacG that they signed to the label within 48-hours after rap singer Sjava played one of their songs for Ambitiouz Entertainment, around the same time rapper A-Reece and other artists were leaving the label in 2017.
The duo could’ve signed with renowned artist and record label boss Oskido, but they opted for the Ambitious contract.
According to a report by the Sunday World last year, Blaq Diamond’s contract stated that the duo is supposed to be booked for their gigs via the label and release three albums before their contracts could end.
The same piece said, after dropping the album in the first contract, the duo signed another contract to release three more albums in 2020.
“This means the duo owes us four albums that it must release as stipulated in its contract,” said an unnamed record label employee commenting in the article.
In the interview with MacG, the pair explained their reason for wanting to leave.
“It was time, we have grown now. It was between sticking the label or choosing growth more than anything, you know because we wanted to go and tap into the African market, so they felt like if we tap into the African market we’re gonna lose our people here local,” Blaq Diamond said.
The duo also shot parts of their Ilanga music video on the same day.
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