Ambitiouz hits back after losing court battle against Blaq Diamond

Controversial record label, Ambitiouz Entertainment, has released a statement following the South Gauteng High Court’s ruling in its legal battle against music duo Blaq Diamond.

ALSO READ: Smear campaign? Blaq Diamond deny Ambitiouz artist’s claims

BLAQ DIAMOND VICTORY

On Monday, 12 June, the music group – made up of singers Ndumiso “Ndu Browns” Mdletshe and Siphelele “Danya Devs” Dunywa – successfully interdicted YouTube and Ambitiouz Entertainment from deleting their music from their YouTube channel and all distributing platforms.

The Love Letter hitmakers’ lawyer, Jade Louella Naidoo, shared the news on Twitter, adding that they won with costs – meaning the music company has to pay the costs of the application including the costs of two counsel.

ALSO READ: Blaq Diamond takes Ambitiouz to court over hit song removal

The duo’s victory comes after Ambitiouz had removed its hit song Qoma (featuring Big Zulu) from YouTube claiming copyright infringement.

“If you look at the order, no digital streaming platforms can take down the music just because the recording label is raising a copyright infringement claim. But Ambitiouz is saying they inherently have ownership of my clients’ music. But today, the SA court made a ruling that such infringement [taking down or removing music] is unlawful because we are waiting to declare the contract unconstitutional and invalid,” Naidoo told SowetanLIVE.

ALSO READ: Blaq Diamond wins exploitation case against Ambitiouz

BLAQ DIAMOND IS NOT DONE WITH AMBITIOUZ

Naidoo said that the next step is to declare their contracts invalid and unconstitutional because they are exploitive.

“They are not getting payment for their music that is used in advertising and other platforms. In other words, my clients were working for free. They have three contracts; for publishing, artist management and exclusive management agreement.”

ALSO READ: ‘He was a nobody when we dated’: Blaq Diamond star Ndu Browns’ ex

Last year, the record label told Sunday World that the duo “unlawfully” terminated its contracts and continues getting paid for gigs behind the stable’s back.

The group’s first contract with Ambitiouz was signed in 2017 and renewed in 2020 before it left the company in January 2022.

ALSO READ: ‘They owe us four albums!’: Blaq Diamond fails to honour contract

AMBITIOUZ RELEASE A STATEMENT

In a statement that was released on Tuesday, Ambitiouz said it “wholeheartedly respects the ruling made by the esteemed judge.”

Although the record label says it will comply with the judgement, it said it will also be exploring other legal avenues to appeal.

“We want to reiterate that, as instructed by the Honourable acting Judge WANLESS, Ambitiouz 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 regard,” read parts of the statement.

However, the music label said that it will continue to raise copyright and ownership disputes against works authored by Blaq Diamond before 15 June 2022 – this includes their song, Qoma.

In addition, Ambitiouz said it will be releasing new music by Blaq Diamond soon.

Ama A-Lister ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/ReEzPpkiQ5

— Ambitiouz Ent (@Ambitiouz_Ent) June 12, 2023