28 March 1998
Taiwan Headline News

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) Lawyers for a Taiwan aboriginal couple have filed a copyright infringement suit in the United States against the German pop music group Enigma, related US and German record companies, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), legal sources in Taipei reported on Saturday.

Enigma, Virgin Records (Germany), Capitol-EMI Music, Charisma Records of America, Mambo Music (Germany) and the IOC are listed in the lawsuit as having failed to give Kuo Ying-nan, 80, and his wife, Kuo Hsiu-chu, 78, credit for the use of their voices in Enigma's hit song, "Return to Innocence," said Huang Shiu-lan, an attorney with the Hen Ten Law Office in Taipei.

The song contains extended samples of the Kuos performing their tribe's "Jubilant Drinking Song."

The Kuos, both gifted vocalists from the Ami tribe of eastern Taiwan, sang the "Jubilant Drinking Song" -- which the Ami use in important tribal celebrations -- in Paris in 1988, when the couple were members of a Taiwan mission taking part in a cultural exchange program sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture and Education.

French musicians who heard the Kuos' rendition of the song, a tune passed down from generation to generation among the Ami, reportedly described it as a "sound from heaven."

The Kuos have said they were extraordinarily proud when they learned that a French museum had included their singing on a CD released later that year of Taiwan aboriginal music, even though they received nary a cent from the producer.

The couple, however, were even more surprised when they learned that their song had been appropriated for Enigma's 1994 pop song "Return to Innocence."

The IOC used "Return to Innocence" in its promotion of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.

The song, boosted by the connection with the Olympics, sold millions of copies worldwide.

None of these uses of the song, however, were with the Kuos' knowledge or permission, Huang said.

The Kuos were puzzled that they were not given any recognition for the Enigma recording, Huang said.

When representatives on behalf of the Kuos inquired about the original vocalists' copyrights, however, they were rebuffed and were told that if the Kuos think they should be recognized as the performers and arrangers of the song, they would have to sue and that this would cost them US$1 million, Huang said, adding that the companies knew full well that the Kuos certainly didn't have that kind of money.

Many people in Taiwan were angered by the response the Kuos received and began to rally behind them.

When supporters tried to hire US attorneys to litigate the case, however, they learned that there was little interest among US law firms because of the Kuos' inability to pay legal fees, he said.

Finally, the US-based attorney Emil Chang agreed to file the lawsuit.

Huang said big record companies and music groups should not be able to "take advantage of powerless people (and) deprive them of their music, culture and rights" without consequences. She urged Enigma and the record companies to "come forward, acknowledge the works of the aborigines, and do the right thing." (By Deborah Kuo)

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