October 01, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed a N500 million copyright infringement suit filed against singer Kingsley Okonkwo, popularly known as Kcee; businessman Emeka Okonkwo, aka E-Money, and his record label, Five Star Music Limited.
Justice Kehinde Ogundare, the presiding Judge, on Monday, held that Jude Nnam, the plaintiff, failed to provide credible evidence to prove the copyright infringement allegation.
Nnam, a Nigerian composer, had claimed that Kcee secretly added his songs, including ‘Som Too Chukwu’, ‘Otito Diri Chineke’ and ‘K’ Anyi Jee N’ Ulo Chukwu’ to his album, ‘Cultural Praise Vol. 1’ without his consent.
The composer sought a written or oral declaration that the three defendants jointly infringed on his copyright by producing and marketing it without his permission.
He also sought that the defendants pay all royalties from the songs and stop further infringement.
Nnam further sought a damage fee of N500 million from the defendants as well as N5 million as the cost of action.
However, KCee and E-Money denied all the plaintiff’s allegations. They also described Nnam’s claims as frivolous and an attempt to extort them.
Aside from the suit dismissal, Justice Ogundare also awarded a punitive cost of N1 million against Nnam.
The copyright infringement lawsuit has been ongoing since 2021.
