In the music industry, using samples in songs is common, especially when you’re a big star like Drake. However, Ghanaian rapper Obrafour claimed that Drake used a piece of his music without permission.
Obrafour is suing the rapper for at least $10 million in damages and profits from the song. His lawyers claim that Drake never credited or compensated Obrafour for the unauthorized samples.
Drake recently made headlines for his AI-created song and The Weeknd, who recently came out of a court battle with Vogue magazine on false cover.
Read on to learn more.
Drake Sued By Ghanaian Rapper Obrafour
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According to official court papers obtained by Worldwide Music Business (per Insider), Ghanaian rapper Obrafour has sued Drake for copyright infringement. The rapper, whose real name is Michael Elliot Kwabena Okyere Darko, claims that Drake used a short clip from his song “Oye Ohene” in his song “Calling My Name.”
Obrafour is one of the biggest stars in the Ghanaian music scene, and his genre, hip life, combines traditional Ghanaian music and hip-hop. In the complaint, Obrafour claims he communicated with someone from Drake’s team about the sample. He said someone from Republic Records was trying to clean up the parts that were already on the track.
The person told Obrafour’s team that they sought his consent to use “both copyright and publication.” The rapper claimed he received subsequent mail on the sample, but the communication ended there.
Obrafour Claims Drake Released Song Anyway
About nine days after Obrafour claimed to have received the first email, Drake released the album “Honestly, Nevermind”. The complaint reads, “Obrafour has yet to respond to the June 8, 2022 release email or the June 13, 2022 follow-up release email around the time Drake’s ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ album was released.”
His lawyer further said, “However, the infringing work is one of the songs appearing on the album ‘Honestly, Nevermind’, which was released to the world by ‘surprise’ on June 17, 2022.” The album managed to generate over 250 million streams in its first week of streaming.
The offending song, “Calling My Name,” has more than 47 million streams on Spotify and more than 4.1 million views on YouTube. The lawsuit also states that in the 304 days since the song was released, it has been “streamed tens of millions of times on Apple Music.”
Obrafour Seeks Damages And Legal Expenses
In his complaint, Obrafour is seeking a minimum of $10 million in damages and a share of the song’s profits. This includes revenue from streaming, record sales, live performances, merchandise and all other income. The rapper is also seeking compensation for his legal costs for the suit.
His lawyer wrote, “Defendants continue to engage in violations, despite acknowledging that they need to obtain rights and authorization from Obrafour. Defendants have never accounted for, credited or compensated Obrafour for their unauthorized use of the copyrighted work.”
The suit names several defendants besides Drake, including the writer and producer of “Calling My Name.” These include his record company OVO, Republic Records, Universal Music Group, producer Alex Lustig; DJ Diamante Blackmon, songwriter and producer Johannes Klahr; and musician Beau Nox.
Drake’s Current Battle With Viral AI Songs
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Drake recently made headlines for an AI-generated song featuring his and The Weeknd’s voice that went viral. The song “Heart on my sleeve” features AI-generated vocals from two musicians and was uploaded on TikTok and YouTube by an anonymous person named Ghostwriter.
Third-party distributors are finally uploading AI tracks to music streaming platforms. It quickly gained thousands of streams on platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud and TIDAL. However, it has been deleted from this platform.
Aside from the AI song drama, Drake recently settled a lawsuit with Vogue after he and 21 Savage created a fake magazine cover in a promotional video for their album, “Her Loss.” Details of the settlement, like the amount, are still private news, but the company is asking for $4 million in its initial lawsuit.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
