As World Cup 2010 comes into the final stretch in South Africa, Coca-Cola faces litigation involving the Spanish mix of its campaign anthem, “Wavin’ Flag”.
“Wavin’ Flag” was originally written by Somali-born K’Naan, and is used by Coca-Cola for their 2010 FIFA World Cup marketing campaign. Coca-Cola released an English version of the song, as well as numerous country-specific and bilingual versions. Among these variations, is a Spanish language mix put together by Rafael “Rafa” Vergara Hermosilla, a Miami-based songwriter, singer and producer, at the request of Universal Music Latin America.
Vergara translated the lyrics into Spanish, demoed his own vocals, and finally mixed and produced a vocal track by artist David Bisbal. The resulting composition was Coca-Cola’s “Spanish Celebration Mix”, and according to Universal Music, the completion of the song marked the end of the contractual agreement with Vergara. José Puig, Vice President of Marketing for Universal Music Latin America has stated that the two agreed over a phone conversation that Vergara’s work would be a work-for-hire, and he would receive a flat fee of $6,000 for the project. Vergara vehemently denied that this was a work-for-hire agreement, stating he never would have agreed to do the song without the possibility of “soliciting a percentage” for his adaptation.
In an email sent to Puig, Vergaras requested his credits “are respected as producer and adapter of the Spanish version (that every time the name of any composer of this version appears, my name appears as adapter), and obviously, the credits for the production”.
When Vergara’s request was not granted, he filed a motion to prevent Coca-Cola from using his version in their campaign. U.S. District Judge Michael Moore granted part of “unduly burdensome” preliminary injunction, requiring Coca-Cola to credit Vergaras whenever his Spanish lyrics are used, in addition to crediting K’Naan.
In a press release issued earlier last month, Vergara defended his actions stating, “I filed litigation in the Federal District Court in Miami only as a last resort. The Coca-Cola Company was specifically and directly informed that it did not have the authorization to use or exploit the song. Despite this knowledge, Coca-Cola has made it clear that it intends to continue to use my work and to exploit the song even without my consent.”
Vergara was denied his request for attorney fees and costs, and he is granted no additional money from the use of his song.
Crumpton Law LLC is a Columbus Small Business Law Firm, with attorney Matthew Crumpton serving as managing member and lead attorney.
Tags: cases, copyright, music, music law, work for hire
