Nigerian singer Ewaoluwa Olatunji, also known as Ewa Cole, has filed a lawsuit against filmmaker Funke Akindele and music executive Abdulrasheed ‘JJC Skillz’.
She sued the filmmaker and her estranged hubby for alleged copyright infringement of her songs in the film ‘She Must Be Obeyed,’ which was produced by SceneOne Entertainment and co-directed by Akindele and Skillz.
Ewa Cole, through her legal representative Adewale Williams, claimed ownership of the songs ‘Opoor’ and ‘Bhad Garl’, which were used without her permission in the series.
The lawsuit, filed in Lagos’ Federal High Court, also names Tony Ugiagbe (Topage), Waje, Veeiye, Amazon Web Services Nigeria Ltd. (BoomPlay), Amazon Web Services Inc., and Apple Inc. as defendants.
Ewa Cole claims that Waje and Veeiye reproduced ‘Bhad Gyal’ and ‘Opoor’ after Topage, the song producer, informed her of their rejection.
She claimed that the songs were used without her permission or credit, which constitutes copyright infringement.
Ewa Cole is also demanding N300 million in damages for the alleged infringement of her work.
She asked that the court grant a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further copyrighting, performing, or reproducing her musical works.
She also prayed that the court would order the defendants to share 45 percent of the profits made in the use, performance, reproduction, and distribution of the two songs.
