I’ve read Abdon Mason’s hand-wringing letter [https://trinidadexpress.com/opinion/letters/have-mercy-on-stalin-s-widow/article_da11ca3f-141f-42ab-a57e-bd2e5de22edf.html] about the copyright judgment against Black Stalin’s widow. Let me say what he wouldn’t: it’s legally illiterate nonsense.
A woman used a copyrighted photo of her late husband in a promotional campaign for a public tribute concert. She didn’t have the photographer’s permission. That is copyright infringement. It doesn’t matter who her husband was.
Leroy “Black Stalin” Calliste was a national treasure, yes. But fame does not override the law. It never has and never will. No amount of nostalgic calypso lyrics, funeral tributes, or patriotic flag-waving makes theft of intellectual property magically lawful.
Let’s deal with the facts.
The photographer, Angelo Marcelle, owns the rights to the image. It had been licensed before. It had value. Using it again, publicly and commercially, without consent, breached those rights.
The widow didn’t defend the legal action. She didn’t respond. She didn’t instruct a lawyer. So the court entered a default judgment. That’s not heartlessness. That’s civil procedure. Ignore a claim and lose—simple.
Mason calls this “tone-deaf” and “asinine”. I call it lawful. If you want to honour your late husband, you don’t do it by trampling on someone else’s legal rights. You certainly don’t rally public outrage to gaslight the courts.
This is not about punishing grief. It’s about protecting creators who—unlike the subject of the photo—are still alive and working. Photographers, artists, musicians—every one of them deserves control over their work, whether or not the person pictured is famous.
The argument that this is “just one image” is pitiful. That’s like stealing one painting and saying it’s fine because the artist painted more. It’s not only wrong, it’s insulting.
Mason asks if this is the nation we’ve become. I hope so—a nation where copyright means something. A nation where creators aren’t sacrificed on the altar of nostalgia.
And let’s be honest—what’s actually “tone-deaf” is using Stalin’s legacy to excuse unlawful conduct. Stalin sang truth to power. He stood for fairness and rights. His name should not be dragged into a campaign to vilify someone for protecting their intellectual property.
Respect the dead—but obey the law. No one is above it. Not even the widow of a legend.
