Ghana’s Obrafuor Sues Drake $10m For Copyright Infringement

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Ghanaian rapper Obrafour has sued Drake for $10 million for sampling his 2003 remix of “Oye Ohene” on the song “Calling My Name” from his “Honestly Nevermind” album.

Obrafour claimed in court documents in New York that the Canadian rapper violated his copyright when he used a portion of his song without getting his permission and that parties involved in the making of “Calling My Name” have financially benefited from his work.

Recall that on June 20, 2022, the God’s Plan rapper Drake stunned his fans with his ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ and sampled Ghanaian rapper Obrafour’s 2003 remix of ‘Oye Ohene’ on his Track 6 titled ‘Calling My Name’.

Obrafour is asking the court to order the parties to, among other things, pay him $10 million in damages as compensation for his works.

Parts of the statement reads: “Defendants released the Infringing Work on June 17, 2022, despite the fact that an agent of one or more Defendants had previously contacted Obrafour seeking to obtain Obrafour’s permission for the use of the Copyrighted Work in the Infringing Work. Obrafour never granted Defendants permission to use the Copyrighted Work and the Infringing work was released mere days later.

The Pae Mu Ka hitmaker also stated that the respondents in the aforementioned infringement case had accrued enormous benefits, including producing enormous sums of global streams and sales across a variety of platforms, while maintaining that they had also been taken advantage of by the Defendants via other methods, including live performance.