An Accra High Court has dismissed the copyright lawsuit against producer, Hammer and rapper, Obrafour, filed by Mantse Aryeequaye, the founder of the Chalewote Street Art Festival.
Mantse had sued rapper Obrafour and producer Hammer for allegedly claiming sole ownership of the famous ‘killer cut blood’ phrase used in the popular song ‘Oye Ohene’.
However, on Thursday, February 15, the case was struck out by an Accra High Court, presided by Justice John Eugene Nyanteh Nyadu citing technicalities.
The court observed that Mantse had filed separate claims against the producer and rapper, leading to the dismissal.
Speaking to Joy Entertainment, Lawyer for Obrafour, Bobby Banson said he identified the technical loopholes.
According to him, “he should not have sued Obrafour and Hammer for different cause of actions (claims) but he did and the law is the law. So, I asked the case to be struck out and the court agreed.”
He explained that the defendants had to be treated as separate persons in two separate suits.
Lawyer Bobby Banson confirmed that an amount of GH₵10,000 has been awarded against Mantse.
Despite the setback, a spokesperson for the Chalewote Street Art Festival founder stated that they are undeterred by the court’s decision.
Anny Osabutey noted that despite being a similar case, the court ruled that Obrafour and Hammer had to be sued separately.
He affirmed their commitment to pursuing the matter stating “I have been informed that a cost of GHS10,000 was awarded against us but Mantse will go again.”
Background
In January 2024, it was revealed that Mantse Aryeequaye had sued rapper Obrafour and producer Hammer for allegedly claiming sole ownership of the famous ‘killer cut blood’ phrase.
The ownership of the phrase, used in the popular Obrafour track Oye Ohene, came under scrutiny after the rapper sued Canadian artiste Drake for using it in his track without the former’s permission.
In the suit, Mantse accused Obrafour of claiming ownership of the phrase and copyrighting it in the US in September 2022.
He noted that Obrafour had registered the track, Oye Ohene, with the phrase inclusive in the US “robbing him (Mantse) of his intellectual property and seeking to receive payment for plaintiff’s work exclusively.”
The Chalewote founder called the rapper’s actions malicious with “clear nefarious intent” to divert and use royalties belonging to him. He insists that he owns the intellectual property of ‘killer cut’ and thus, he is praying on the court to declare so.
In addition, he is calling on the court to restrain Obrafour from demanding and receiving payment for ‘killer cut’.
Mantse is also praying to the court to order Hammer to not only relinquish all his works to him but, also submit a record of all his works (with Hammer), including ones that have been used in other tracks.
Among other things, he is also demanding “general damages against 1st defendant for misappropriating Plaintiff’s work and actively seeking to profit from it whilst evading all calls and efforts to rectify his duplicitous conduct” and “costs including full indemnity for legal costs which could have been avoided.”
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