Artiste manager and pundit, Bull Dog has added his voice to the ongoing debate on who owns the intellectual property for ‘Oye Ohene’ Remix which has Obrafour suing Canadian rapper, Drake for alleged copyright violations
Recently, there has been much discussion surrounding the case which has both Obrafuor and co-creator and producer, Mantse Nii Aryeequaye fighting for ownership.
However, BullGod of Bullhaus Entertainment, an independent record label in Ghana, has weighed in on the issue, arguing that even if Obrafuor paid Mantse for the work, Mantse still owns the intellectual property rights to his voice, and therefore, Obrafuor has no right to sue Drake for using it.
“This very suits rests on the lap of Mantse. With intellectual property whether you were paid or not you still own it. Nobody can pay for your mind. It’s just like creating beats, anybody who creates the beat even if you paid for the beat…you just hired the beat because intellectually it’s the person who owns the beat for life that’s why we have split sheets,” he explained
The issue of sampling according to intellectual property experts can be a legally complex issue, as it often involves issues of copyright and ownership.
But the former artiste manager of Shatta Wale believes the issue to be straightforward as Mantse’s voice can be clearly heard on the “Killer Cut” intro that has been sampled.
“Even if Obrafuor paid Mantse for this work, Mantse owns the intellectual property. Mantse is a co-writer so when we come to split sheets like the Lawyer said If Obrafuor has registered the music solely for him that’s theft,” he maintained
[irp posts=”290759″ ]
His argument is based on the idea that intellectual property rights are not transferable, even if the original owner is compensated for their work.
In other words, just because Obrafuor paid Mantse for his contribution to the song, it does not necessarily mean that he owns the rights to Mantse’s voice.
“Especially, In this case of sampling, it is Mantse’s voice we hear clearly so Obrafuor has no right,” he told Berla Mundi on TV3 New Day