Trial date set for ‘Jerusalema’ rights and royalties dispute

Dan Corder on Afternoon Drive interviews Eitan Stern, Founder and Director of Legalese.

Listen below:

The legal battle over the authorship of the globally renowned smash hit Jerusalema, has a trial date.

Released in 2020 and featuring Nomcebo Zikode, Jerusalema quickly became a global sensation, racking up over 600 million YouTube views and millions more streams worldwide. 

The subsequent Jerusalema Dance Challenge which saw people post videos of themselves dancing to the song, brought moments of levity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Musicians Charmza the DJ and Biblos are claiming they co-created the song during a 2019 studio session. They say Charmza composed the beats and Nomcebo contributed the lyrics and vocals.

They allege that Master KG was not at the session. Yet they say he released the song under his name without securing the proper rights.

Master KG and his label, Open Mic Productions, have denied these accusations.

They maintain that Master KG had already produced the track before the studio session took place.

The Pretoria High Court has set down the trial from 17 to 28 November 2025.

If the court determines that Master KG does not own the copyright to Jerusalema and rules against him, Stern explains that a financial reconciliation will be conducted to assess the earnings Master KG made from the song.

"The only time it really ever becomes a dispute, is when the song is worth something once it's been published, and once it's been published, it's simply too late."

- Eitan Stern, Founder and Director – Legalese

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.