GEMA mourns Supervisory Board member Frank Dostal

GEMA mourns its Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Frank Dostal, who passed away aged 71 years during the night from 17th to 18th April. He is survived by his wife and his two children. Prof. Dr. Enjott Schneider, Chairman of the GEMA Supervisory Board, expressed his shock as follows: “Frank Dostal’s passing signifies not only the huge loss of an extraordinary personality in the music landscape, but also an experienced and highly esteemed colleague. Frank Dostal took his service and his merits literally as an honorary office that he held for the community of the music creators.  His persistence and his constant personal commitment when standing up for the rights of music authors will be sorely missed by us all.” “Frank Dostal had been active within GEMA with his high levels of engagement. As a member of the Supervisory Board and later as its Deputy Chairman, he brought his profound and diverse knowledge and experience from the music scene on board. He always acted from a position to strengthen GEMA as a community of music creators and to provide it with a strong voice during important debates on copyright and its significance for the economic protection of creative freedom,” adds Dr. Harald Heker, GEMA CEO. “Our deepest sympathy goes to his entire family.” Frank Dostal was born on 16 December 1945 in Flensburg.  He grew up in Hamburg and remained true to the Hanseatic city. Following several successes as band singer and founder (“The Rattles”, “Wonderland”), Frank Dostal had been working as a successful lyricist and producer since the 70ies.  His best-known lyrics include “Das Lied der Schlümpfe” [The Smurf Song] for Father Abraham, or “Du, die Wanne ist voll” [You’re the one that I want - parody] for Dieter Hallervorden and Helga Feddersen. He had close collaborations with national and international artists and jointly produced the pop duo “Baccara” with composer Rolf Soja (“Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”, “Sorry, I'm A Lady”, “Parlez-Vous Français”). He also worked for artists such as Nana Mouskouri, Mike Krüger, Roberto Blanco or the Goombay Dance Band.  Since 1994, Frank Dostal has been a member of the GEMA Supervisory Board, and held the position of Deputy Chairman since 2006. Frank Dostal also dedicated himself to the representation of his fellow lyricists in further committees, such as the Tariff, Finance and Communications Committee as well as in the Distribution Plan Committee of the GEMA Supervisory Board. He was also Chairman of the Board of the GEMA foundation. On top of that, he was also active as President of the German Association of Lyricists since 2007. In December 2014, Frank Dostal was awarded the GEMA Ring of Honour for his long-term honorary activities in the GEMA Supervisory Board. “It is literally an honour to hold this office, I am grateful for the trust of so many of my fellow lyricists, that allows me to actively stand up for our collective rights”, Frank Dostal said in his acceptance speech for the award he received from the GEMA Supervisory Board. GEMA represents the copyright of more than 70,000 members (composers, lyricists and music publishers) in Germany, and more than two million copyright owners globally. It is one of the largest societies for authors of musical works in the world.