The legal battle surrounding the authorship and ownership of the globally acclaimed gospel song, ‘Way Maker’ has finally been resolved in favour of Nigeria’s renowned gospel artiste, Mrs. Osinachi Joseph Egbu, whose stage name is Sinach.
A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided by Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa, affirmed that Sinach remains the sole author and copyright owner of the popular gospel hit song that ruled the airwaves in Nigeria and beyond.
The song, which was a huge success, has won local and international awards that apparently sparked the authorship and ownership dispute.
Michael Oluwole, who produced the song for Sinach had on March 8, 2024, filed a suit against the gospel artiste asking the court to make declarations recognising his co-authorship and co-ownership of the song.
In the Suit No. FHC/L/CS/402/2024, filed by his counsel, Matthew Enilobo, the plaintiff claimed to be a co-author and co-owner of the song, and that he was entitled to “equitable sharing of all fees from licences and assignments” from it.
He alleged that the plaintiff had been infringing on his performer’s rights as he was the performer of the accompanying and underlying musical instruments in the sound recording. The producer asked the court to award him N5 billion in general damages against the defendant.
Among other reliefs, the plaintiff urged the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant.
Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo
