The founder of the Chale Wote Street Festival, Mantse Aryeequaye, has seen his case against rapper Obrafour and music producer Hammer thrown out by the Accra High Court.
The lawsuit revolved around the ownership of the popular phrase “Killer Cut Blood” used in Obrafour’s Oye Ohene song.
On Thursday, February 15, 2024, GH¢10,000 was awarded to Obrafour and Hammer of The Last Two Music Group, the producers of “Oye Ohene,” as the court dismissed the case citing “inconsistencies and breach of court rules” in Mantse’s writ.
Mantse Aryeequaye had initially filed the lawsuit on January 12, 2024, alleging that Obrafour had registered the phrase in the United States in September 2022 without his consent.
Despite having no previous issues with the use of his “Killer Cut” line in the song, Mantse took legal action after discovering the registration in the US.
The founder of the Chale Wote Festival claimed that Obrafour failed to inform Drake’s handlers, who sought permission to use the “Killer Cut” in a song, that he was not the owner of the work.
Mantse asserted that Obrafour neglected to acknowledge him, the actual owner of the intellectual property, leading to the legal dispute.
“Plaintiff says 1st Defendant received notification from some handlers of Drake, (a foreign musician), requesting the use of Plaintiffs work which they wrongly attributed to 1st Defendant, because they heard it on his song ‘Oye Ohene’. 1st defendant did not inform Drake’s handlers that the 1st Defendant was not the owner of the work, but who used it on his song, (just as Drake is to use it). 1st Defendant did not inform Plaintiff, the actual owner of the work, knowing very well that the part of the song being sought by Drake is wholly the intellectual property of the Plaintiff,” part of the writ read.