Entertainment
Singer, Ewa Cole takes Funke Akindele, JJC Skillz to court with N300m lawsuit
Nigerian singer, Ewa Cole has filed a 300M lawsuit against actress and filmmaker, Funke Akindele and music executive, JJC Skillz, alleging copyright infringement of her songs in the popular movie, “She Must Be Obeyed.”
SceneOne Entertainment produced the film “SHE Must Be Obeyed,” with co-direction by Funke Akindele and her ex-husband JJC Skillz.
Nancy Isime, Abdulateef Adedimeji, Akah Nnani, Veeiye, Waje, Patience Ozokwo, Rachael Okonkwo, and Mike Ezuronye were part of the star-studded cast that garnered widespread attention and became an internet sensation with their five-part series.
However, a case was brought before the Federal High Court of Lagos, where Ewa Cole claimed ownership of the rights to “Opoor” and “Bhad Garl,” two songs that were allegedly sampled in “SHE Must Be Obeyed.” Her attorney, Adewale Williams, represented her in this matter.
The defendants in the action are Tony Ugiagbe (Topage), Waje, Veeiye, Amazon Web Services Nigeria Ltd. (BoomPlay), Amazon Web Services Inc., and Apple Inc.
According to Ewa Cole, Waje and Veeiye plagiarized her songs “Bhad Gyal” and “Opoor” after being informed by Topage, the song producer, that her songs had been rejected.
She claimed that she received no credit and accused the songs of being copied without authorization.
“Sometime in June 2021, Our Client was contacted by one Mr Fony a.k.a Tony Age to produce soundtracks for the movie “She Must Be Obeyed” series being produced by Scene One production, Funke Akindele and her crew at that material time. The movie starred several celebrities like Veeiye (as Tito); Waje (as X-cite)}; Shaffy Belfo as Iya Siyanbola, amongst others,” the petition reads.
“Our brief revealed that after writing and recording the two songs, “Bhad Gyal” and “OPOOR” in a music studio with the aid of Mr. Tony a.k.a Tony Age (who was working with the “She Muse Be Obeyed” crew as that time), she handed over the tracks to him with the understanding that Funke Akindele and her crew will reach out to her for payments and recognition.
“After weeks of waiting, Our Client received the sad news that her songs had been rejected and would no longer be deployed in the production of the series only for Our Client to shockingly discover thereafter that she has been lied to and scammed, and that her songs were REPRODUCED by Waje and Veeiye and deployed for the production of the said movie without Our Client’s permission or approval or any credit to her. The “Bhad Gyal’ song was mimed by Waje while on stage in the movie, whilst the OPOOR song ran through the background of the entirety of the series.
“The “She Must Be Obeyed” series released in September 2023 and premiered by Amazon Prime Video is now been watched around the globe and generating several revenues for Amazon, Apple Music, BoomPlay, Funke Akindele, and her crew without even the least recognition of Our Client as the author of those songs.”
In addition, Ewa Cole demands N300 million in damages for what she claims to be labor infringement.
She requested that the defendants be barred from copyrighting, performing, or redistributing her musical compositions forever by a permanent injunction from the court.
In addition, she begged the court to grant the defendants a 45 percent cut of all earnings from the use, performance, duplication, and sale of the two songs.
![“I was so excited; I cried on set” – Juliana Olayode reunites with Funke Akindele on new movie set [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/topnaija.ng/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FotoJet-5.jpg?resize=400%2C240&ssl=1)
![“I was so excited; I cried on set” – Juliana Olayode reunites with Funke Akindele on new movie set [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/topnaija.ng/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FotoJet-5.jpg?resize=80%2C80&ssl=1)
