An Accra High Court on Thursday, February 15 dismissed a copyright case brought before it by founder of the Chalewote Street Art Festival, Mantse Aryeequaye.
Mantse Aryeequaye in January this year filed a writ against Hammer and Obrafour of The Last Two Music Group accusing both of claiming ownership of the famous ‘Killer Cut’ phrase in the popular ‘Oye Ohene’ song.
According to a report on Ghanaweb, the court after its sitting on Thursday, February 15 threw out the case and awarded GH₵10,000 to Obrafour and Hammer.
The court said its decision to dismiss the case was based on “inconsistencies and breach of court rules” in Mantse’s writ.
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.
Darke 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.