Spokersperson for Mantse Aryeequaye, Anny Kareem -Abdi Osabutey, has dismissed reports about the court strucking out the copyright case against Hammer and Obrafour.
Speaking in an interview on TV3’s New Day on Friday, Anny Osabutey explained that the court only asked Mantse to file the suit against both defendants seperately.
He said during court hearings on Thursday, February 15, the court never heard the substantive case but only asked Mantse to make some inconsistencies in his suit.
“The case has not been struck out. Mantse sued both Hammer and Obrafour as a group but the Judge said he cannot do that. Instead of doing a joint suit on their heads, he should rather do individuals and go back and do the rihght thing but the substantive case itself was never heard at all,” he said on Friday, February 16.
“We will go back and Mantse will have his right to sue Hammer and Obrafuor separately,” he added.
He stressed that the legal team will subsequently commence seperate suit against Hammer and Obrafour.
The Killer Cut controversy
The ‘Killer Cut’ Phrase used in the popular ‘Oye Ohene’ song by Obrafour in 2003 raised controversies after American rapper Drake used the phrase in his ‘Honestly Nevermind’ song without permission.
Drake sampled the phrase in his song ‘Calling My Name’ without consent from the original owners.
Obrafour subsequently sued Drake in a New York court and demanded $10 million for sampling the phrase without his consent.
He insisted that Drake and his team made a lot of money for sampling his ‘Killer Cut’ phrase without his consent.
However, Mantse upon hearing about Obrafour’s demands from Drake tweeted at Drake and said he is the original owner of the phrase ‘Killer Cut’ and never gave up his rights to Obrafour or Hammer.
This caused Mantse to sue Hammer and Obrafour who claimed he discovered that Obrafuor and Hammer had registered the song together with the phrase in their name.