Music Justice for robbed artistes

DRIVEN by a crisis of conscience, Music Justice founder Errol Henry is on a mission to help musicians claim millions in stolen royalties. Henry shared that, over a number of decades, he’s watched many Jamaicans in the music business live and die like paupers because they lacked the backing and knowledge about copyright and related matters. According to Henry, he found himself in a similar position in the 1990s, which led to him putting up a vigorous fight for his intellectual property rights and work.

He told the Jamaica Observer that he was successful with that case and it was that experience which birthed Music Justice in 2015. “By training, I am a songwriter, musician, record producer, label owner, and music publisher. I produce music for Bobby Womack...I produced Lulu, I produced the Jones Girls and I produced Jacki Graham.

I’ve been very successful, in my own right, as an independent music maker, and it was during the course of working my way through the industry...I witnessed a great deal of injustice. I had a situation where I had to deal with a very, very large international record company for my label and they didn’t want to sign the contract,” shared Henry He said he was left with a choice to lose his work or fight. “I decided to fight them, and that required me to learn things I didn’t know before, learn things about the way corporations work, and learn things about finance.

So having gone through the business of recovering my own rights and getting my own music back, I was faced with something of, let’s just say, a crisis of conscience, because I couldn’t just go back to work, I couldn’t just go back to writing and producing. I was thinking about all the artistes who, in the same situation, can’t get any lawyers to help, can’t get anyone to help,” he recounted. Henry said he put his own music career on pause to help others get what is rightfully theirs.

“Having got my catalogue back and got my stuff together, I said, ‘You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to put down the producing, put down recording, mixing, all the things I love to do.’ So I said I’m going to reach out to other artistes, producers, writers, and say, ‘Listen, if you’ve got problems with your business, recovering rights or getting money, talk to me and I’ll see if I can help you,’ “ he shared, adding that he felt he did the right thing by deciding to stand u…