Ghanaian Musician Obrafour Sues Drake Over Copyright Infringement
In music, sampling is a common concept as artists borrow from the works of others to uplift their art. To legitimately borrow, one must take permission and the absence of such permission amounts to a copyright breach.
Ghanaian musician Obrafour is suing megastar rapper Drake for the rapper’s decision to sample his song without his permission. Drake sampled Obrafour’s ‘Oye Ohene’ remix in the ‘Calling My Name’ off Drake’s ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ album released in 2022.
According to the Ghanaian legend, Drake had earlier sought permission which was denied but the rapper nevertheless went forward with the sampling.
Copyright infringement is becoming a more common phenomenon in music as digitalization is making it easier for artists to flag similarities.
Recently, Puff Diddy clarified that he pays Sting $2,000 a day for illegally sampling his record ‘Every Breath You Take’ on his hit tribute to Notorious BIG ‘Missing You.’
Robin Thicke and Pharell William were asked by the court to pay Marvin Gaye’s estate up to $5 million dollars as the penalty for sampling the deceased’s ‘Got to Give It Up’ on their hit single ‘Blurred Lines.’
In Nigeria, we have also seen cases of copyright infringement with Danny Young taking Tiwa Savage for sampling his song ‘Oju Ti Ti Won’.
Recently Tempoe also took Asa and P.Prime to court for copyright infringement while the single also filed a separate suit against Tempoe and Joeboy for copyright breach.
With the mouth-watering settlement that accrues from copyright breach, Obrafour might be in for a big payday should he convince the court.
Speaking on the case, Obrafour’s Lawyer Imran Ansari stated that the Ghanaian musician is the lawful owner of the copyright both in Ghana and in the United States, and Drake’s use of the song was unlawful.
“In 2003, Obrafour, an acclaimed music artist from Ghana, released a popular song called “Oye Ohene (Remix).” Not only is he proud of the creative work that went into his song, but he is also the lawful owner of the copyright behind it, both in Ghana, and here in the United States.
nfortunately, this ownership was not respected by the internationally known music artist Drake, who sampled it directly in one of his recent hits, “Calling My Name.” Drake did so without getting permission from Obrafour to use the song, without giving any credit to Obrafour, and without compensating Obrafour for its use. In fact, mere days before Drake released “Calling My Name,” he tried to secure the rights to use the sample. But rather than waiting to make sure Obrafour gave permission, which Obrafour did not, Drake released the song regardless. Obrafour now seeks the respect, recognition, and compensation he deserves for use of his creative work. He also hopes to send a message to mainstream international artists that you cannot simply take from an artist who may be lesser known, or in another country, without giving credit where credit is due.”
In the case that was instituted in the Souther district of New York, Obrafour presented the court with 4 exhibits to prove his lawful ownership of song. The Ghanaian asked the court for a number of prayers including a payment of damages not less than $10,000,000.
