West Indian Times
Exclusive!!
Dub Engineer
‘The Scientist’ Fears For His Life As He And
Record Label/Producer Jah Life Receive Death
Threat From King Jammys Henchman
King Jammys
(afflicted yard photo)
On
Saturday, March 25th, 2006 West Indian Times
was alerted by veteran artists and producers
in the Reggae industry to the existence of 2
separate recordings of conversations which
included death threats towards Dub Engineer
Hopeton Overton ‘The Scientist’ Browne and
Producer/Label owner Hyman ‘Jah life’ Wright
as well as admission of perjury in a US
court by King Jammys. One of the recordings
is a conversation between King Jammys (a
record label/producer based in Jamaica) and
Dub Engineer Scientist who is based in
America and the other recording is of a
conversation between The Scientist and a man
who stated that King Jammys was his boss.
After
listening to the recordings West Indian
Times spoke to Browne and Jah Life to find
out what led to the death threats. We were
given history that spanned over 30 years in
the music industry; history, secrets, facts
that only a few are privy to. For now,
we will share with you our readers the
information we were given as to what
directly led up to the death threats against
Scientist and Jah Life.
In
2003 The Scientist filed a law suit in the
United States Federal Court against
Greensleeves record label (based in England)
and the company RockStar the makers of the
game ‘Grand Theft Auto’ for copyright
infringement. The Scientist had
challenged Greensleeves for the recording
and composition copyrights of five tracks
which they used on the video game, Grand
Theft Auto 3. The music was originally from
one of The Scientist's albums that was
released in the 80's entitiled 'Scientist
Rids The World Of The Evil Vampires.' The
Scientist’s music was included in the
violent video game without his knowledge or
consent. Greensleeves had made a deal with
RockStar for the company to use the music by
The Scientist and when Greensleeves was
asked by RockStar if they had the rights to
the music they said they did. Greensleeves
indemnified Rockstar meaning they would be
responsible for any costs incurred if there
was a claim by any person stating that they
had rights to the music.
In the
US court Greensleeves had to produce the
documents that were signed with RockStar for
Grand Theft Auto, they had to produce the
shipping bill and all the information
regarding pressing. Greensleeves also
produced a document which was alleged to
have been signed by a producer and marketing
rep who represented both Jah Life (US) and
The Scientist (Jamaica) overseas. This
producer/marketing rep. was Henry ‘Junju’
Lawes. The document was signed in
approximately 1978 and showed where
Greensleeves paid Junju for music. They also
produced a second document which was
allegedly signed by Lawes around 1994 before
he died. The second document signed by Lawes
basically gave ownership and copyright of
music by over 30 artists to Greensleeves.
However, nowhere on the contract did it
mention an amount that was paid for the
copyright ownership. There was also a
question in court as to the validity of the
documents signed by Junju Lawes as he was
illiterate and Greensleeves knew this, in
fact both Jah Life and Scientist say that
Greensleeves would not work with them, only
through Jun Ju as they could get away with
fooling him as he could not read or write.
Scientist and Jah Life claim that this is
why Junju was named as producer on over 30 +
albums that he took to Greensleeves instead
of them. Also, it was noted that both
contracts had identical signatures, no
deviation and even had the same smudge marks
as though the second signature was cut and
paste from the first contract.
King
Jammys Testifies For Greensleeves
Since
there were doubts as to the validity of the
contract signed by Junju, Greensleeves had
Producer / Record Label owner King Jammys
travel from Jamaica to America to testify in
court on behalf of Greensleeves and against
The Scientist. In court King Jammys
testified that The Scientist was a young boy
of 14/15 years old and did not have the
experience to engineer the music that he
says he did. He also said that he, King
Jammys was the boss and foreman at King
Tubbys studio in Kingston where the work was
produced and when The Scientist did any work
it was on a ‘work for hire’ basis, you got
paid for your work one time and you owned no
copyright. The Scientist says this is not
true and although he was very young, King
Tubby trusted him implicitly to open up and
lock up the studio as well as engineer the
music. Unfortunately King Tubby is deceased
and unable to verify this. However, Jah Life
verified that what The Scientist said is
true. Jah Life states that at no time was
Jammys in the studio with them, it was only
The Scientist, Jah Life and Junju’s brother
‘Melon.’
Another artist, veteran DJ Lady Ann also
spoke to West Indian Times saying that she
was there in the studios most of the time
with The Scientist and that he was the best
mixing engineer of those times. Lady Ann
said that King Tubby’s studio was the worst
place in Kingston, she said you had to pass
gunmen who would ask if you are PNP or JLP
in order for you to get past and you had to
answer ‘Musician’. Lady Ann said that Jammys
(who was Prince Jammys at the time) would
not go to the studio because it was too
dangerous and she knew that Jammys was
envious of The Scientist because of the
trust and faith that King Tubbys put into
Scientist. Lady Ann says she too is fighting
for her royalties so that her children are
set before she leaves this earth.
Why Did
King Jammys Lie?
According to The Scientist, King Jammys
along with Lynval Thompson are the only
people who records show are paid by
Greensleeves. Lynval Thompson is also a
record producer. It is in King Jammys best
interest to see that Greensleeves stays
viable so he can channel his music through
England. The Scientist is now a big threat
and hindrance to Greensleeves and King
Jammys because although the US Federal Judge
and Grand Jury believed King Jammys story
that Scientist was too young to have so much
power and skills at that young age, and he
had been paid ‘work for hire’ the company
RockStar settled with him out of court and
paid him for his works. They obviously
believed Scientist.
Greensleeves Responsible Party
Although they did not have to pay The
Scientist and give him the copyright to his
music, Greensleeves was responsible for the
huge bill that had been mounting up over a
three year period. The expensive lawyer fees
for themselves and RockStar and all monies
paid out was their responsibility.
Greensleeves recently sold their company.
The
Scientist now has a lawsuit pending in
France against Greensleeves, and his lawyer
Andre R. Bertrand is engaging in actions to
obtain the payment of the legal
remunerations due and payable to the
Jamaican artists and musicians, including
Jah Life and The Scientist, who were not
compensated for their work.
In
France, the courts want to see an actual
contract showing ownership they do not
recognize the concept of work for hire. This
will put Greensleeves in a serious situation
because if they lose in court, they could
face fines of up to 180,000 Euros per
violation and a violation does not mean an
album but a track. Not only that, but it
would set a precedence for others to follow
and be compensated for their work.
The Death Threats
Calls
were made to The Scientist on Sunday, March
19th 2006 and he recorded them.
Listen to
them . They can be heard at:
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http://www.dubmusic.com/jammyslies
