MANILA, Philippines?I earlier wrote about singer/composer Nelson del Castillo?s complaint against Jim Brickman in 2007, when the latter produced a CD entitled ?Hope.?

Nelson told me that ?Hope? is a piano rendition of his song, ?If,? which was popular in 1994, and that Brickman claimed it to be his own after changing the title to ?Hope.? Nelson got very frustrated because his complaint fell on deaf ears.

?It?s hard not to have the support of a record company,? he said. ?I?m fighting for due recognition of my song and respect for all OPM talents.?

Nelson?s crusade is on. Jim Brickman was served a subpoena after his concert at the Eastwood Mall last Wednesday, for violation of RA 8293, or Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, filed against him by Nelson Del Castillo. Hearing is set Nov. 11 and Nov. 18 at the Manila prosecutor?s office.

?We wanted to serve the subpoena before the show,? Nelson related, ?but the producers begged for us to wait till after. The piano seemed to sympathize with me because it sounded so bad, that Jim Brickman stopped twice after playing a few notes, to examine the keys. He even asked for a tuner, and one did come after several numbers. A TV news crew was covering the event, but Jim would not sign while they were around. The subpoena was served backstage.?

Music is a universal language, but Brickman and Del Castillo are lost in translation. Will they ever speak the same language again?

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