Widespread of tune theft among famous Arab singers

Egyptian singer Amr Diab is rumored to have stolen a tune from the famous Lebanese singer Fairouz, using the tunes of her song “Sa'alouni Elnas” for his song “Inta Ma Oltesh Leih”

A big fuss arose after an Internet website posted news about lyric and tune thefts done by famous Arab singers. The Independent society for Arab Music Preservation had news on its website accusing Arab prominent singers of stealing tunes and using them in their songs as if they are their own.

Among those was prominent Egyptian singer Amr Diab, who is rumored to have used a tune from the famous Lebanese singer Fairouz. It was stated that Amr had used the tunes of her song “Sa'alouni Elnas” for his song “Inta Ma Oltesh Leih”. Fans of Amr Diab defended him by saying that Fairouz is one of Amr's fans but that does not make him innocent.

In addition Kuwaiti singer Humud Naser is said to have stolen a the tune from Amr’s song “Hilween” but then turned out that Amr himself had stole the tune “El Oyoun” from the famous Spanish tune “Morya”.

These actions may affect the good reputation of some good singers in the Arab world, and also affects their credibility in the future. But with high demand of presenting the most songs to satisfy the hunger of listeners, sometimes the need of taking tunes from foreign singers becomes the only option.

Diab recently expressed his joy at winning two titles one for best singer for 2003, and the second for best musical video for the song “Ana Ayesh” (I am Alive) according to a poll done by Nile variety TV.

Diab is placing the final touches on his upcoming album “Khalina Inshoofak” (Let Us See You), which is scheduled to be released this January 2004. adding that he will be doing three songs from the new album as video clips and they will be filmed in Cairo. Diab added that he would be giving his fans a new surprise for this year, which is a new musical movie, but Amr said that the female star has not been chosen yet.

The singer revealed had recently completed shooting the music video for the main song of the album “Khalina Inshoofak” and that he will shoot the song “Salmitilak” in the form of a video clip immediately after his New Year’s Eve performance in order to have it ready with the release of the album.

According to the London based Elaph, Amr stressed that he was in shock to learn that many of his songs from the new album were leaked to the black market and pirated copies are being sold. He also expressed his anger at the fact that his album is being sold on the streets for a price of only 10 Egyptian pounds, a matter that negatively reflects on the success of the album upon its official release. Amr revealed that this is not the first time he is exposed to such pirating of his albums before their official release. –Albawaba.com