Hearing double on TV
The singer at the centre of a copyright mixup which resulted in the leading song for two rival soaps which went to air the same day sounding almost the same denies he benefited personally from the dispute.
John “The Voice” Ratchata is facing police complaints of fraud, defamation and breaching copyright after teams behind soap operas for Channel 3 and Channel 7 laid a joint complaint last week with Chokchai police.
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| John Ratchata |
The teams behind Mai Keuy Leum Ter Jak Hua Jai, leading song from the Channel 7 soap Kulab Krao Petch, and Wang Piang Rak Jing, leading song from the Channel 3 soap Raeng Ngao 2 said they were stunned to find that when the soaps went to air for the first time last week, the melodies sounded almost exactly the same.
Channel 7 was forced to pull the song from its soap and delete the music video after it did some digging and found the melody, which it thought it had bought from its rightful owner, did not in fact belong to it at all.
John Ratchada, who came to fame as a contestant in the Voice 3 singing quest, is accused of taking a melody he knew was composed by someone else and selling it to Channel 7.
John, however, says while he was wrong not to get back to the original composer when he found out Channel 7 was interested in recording it, insists he never actually “sold” the song as he received no financial benefit. The saga starts with freelance singer and songwriter Thatchai Shaw A Na-Bangchang, who is behind the Channel 7 effort.
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| Shaw A |
He said on the night both soaps went to air he checked the Channel 7 soap first, and found the song accompanying the titles, performed by Peter Corp Dyrendal, sounded fine.
He switched channels to check out the competition on Channel 3, which coincidentally started the same night, only to find the melody of their main song, which has its own name and lyrics, nonetheless sounded almost the same, even down to the opening notes on the keyboard.
He hit the internet and found that on the Channel 3 side, Narongvit “Neung” Techathanawat, who looks after the sountracks for their soap operas, hired a team including the song’s composer Chawin “Jak” Chitsomboon to produce it.
However, the end credits for the version he helped produce claimed the composer was John Ratchada. Shaw A said they credited him as composer at his own request.
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| Jak |
“I called Jak and asked how it fell into John’s hands before ending up with us. He said he doesn’t know John, but did send the melody a couple of years ago to a musician and producer who used to work with him, Sarawut Saengbut.”
So began a long and complicated journey as both teams tried to figure out what had happened. The main theme for a soap is a key part of its pulling power for audiences, and its loss, especially as the lakorn had already gone to air, was a big setback for Channel 7, he said.
“After selling it to us, John took the same tune to sell elsewhere, the first time it has happened in the industry,” he said, sparing no criticism for the singer, describing him as “scum” who deserved no place in the industry.
Explaining the background, he said: “John contacted me a couple of years ago offering me a bunch of songs including this one. He said he was in financial trouble, lenders had locked him out of his home and his car was being seized. I bought the rights to this and one other song for 20,000 baht.”
Later he took it to Thai-German actor and lakorn organiser Oliver Bever, who eventually chose it for the Channel 7 soap which went to air last week. “We added new lyrics and re-arranged it, but the melody sounds the same.”
Meanwhile, Neung from Channel 3 had asked Jak to work with Sirasak “Ping Pong” Ittipholpanich, who came up with the lyrics for the same tune over there.
Shaw A said he was lucky he happened to switch over to catch the Channel 3 soap and that both teams were able to take action so early. He said he contacted John on May 7 and asked him to report to Chokchai police about what he had done.
“He kept us waiting from 8pm to 1am and still failed to show. We have given him a chance to clear the air but he refused. We are now mounting joint legal action against him and will take it as far as we can,” he said.
Appearing on TV late last week, John agreed he knew Shaw A’s team were producing the tune for a TV soap, and admitted he failed to get in touch with producer Sarawut, who had sent it to him originally, to let him know.
He said he sent tunes by various artists in a “song bank” to contacts a couple of years ago, to see if anyone was interested in buying them. Sarawut, who obtained the song from composer Jak, had originally asked him to perform it, but his version failed to pass muster. After that setback, he sent the tune on to others without letting Sarawut know.
He denies Shaw A paid him for the song, or that he claimed the credit as composer. “Shaw A came back to me to confirm they were producing it for a soap, and I should have made contact with Sarawut then, but failed. I decided to wait until everything was complete, and assumed they would come back to me before it went to air. That was a breach of ethics on my part,” he said.
John said he failed to show at the police station as he was too rattled. The dispute continues.
Gambler takes shot at illegal lender
A net idol with a grievance against an influential politician’s son has waded into a debt dispute between a business owner and a supposed underling of his, an underground money lender.
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| Sia Po |
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| Nattapat |
Celebrity boxer, gambler and social media personality Apirak “Sia Po” Arnon last week escorted to Crime Suppression Division police businessman Nattapat Surinta, who says an underground lender on the Thon Buri side threatened him and his family after he pleaded for more time to pay off a debt.
He contacted Sia Po, himself an influential figure on that side of town with many followers, after fearing for his safety.
Media reports say Sia Po, while no doubt concerned for the debtor’s plight, decided to escort Nattapat to police because of his lender’s supposed links to Wan Yubamrung, son of former deputy prime minister Chalerm, with whom he has a dispute.
Sia Po and Wan fell out messily on social media a couple of years ago with Wan telling followers he gave the “green light” to anyone who wanted to give Sia Po, a gambler who owned Wan gambling debts, a free kick.
Sia Po later tied Mr Wan to his arrest at the home of rocker Sek Loso last year on a firearms matter.
Mr Nattapat said the lender, known as Tong, is a member of Mr Wan’s retinue. However, he emphasised the debt dispute was a personal matter between him and Tong, no one else.
Mr Nattapat, who runs a contract firm installing traffic signalling gear, said he borrowed 290,000 baht at the start of the year to invest in his business. He made a verbal agreement with Tong to pay interest of 10% a month, and met his obligations until May 10, when his business ran into cashflow problems.
“I called to see if we could arrive at easier terms. I asked if I could pay 30,000 baht a month for 10 months, but Tong wasn’t happy,” he said.
“He threatened to harm my family and I, and defamed my name on social media, claiming I am a crook. I know I was wrong to borrow and not repay, but I had no intention to evade my debts, but was just asking for more time,” he pleaded.
Sia Po, who also took in an audio clip of Tong threatening Mr Nattapat, said he thought the interest demand was on the high side, and urged the government to step in and clean up the underground lending industry.
“This lender has a history with police on assault and weapons matters, including a recent case in which he took a gun and threatened a woman after an argument over a car,” he said.
Asked to comment, Mr Wan said he did have someone in his circle by the name of Tong but they parted ways a few years ago. He denied being involved in underground lending. Police are gathering evidence but have yet to decide on next steps.
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