Veteran musicologist, music composer and performer Sir Jude Nnam has filed a N150 million copyright infringement suit against singer KCee, his brother E-Money and their record label Five Star Music, thenigerialawyer.com has reported.
Nnam alleges that his 2001 composition ‘Som Too Chukwu’ was included in KCee’s Cultural Praise Vol. 1 album without authorisation
In a case filed at the Federal High Court, Nnam is seeking declaration “that the defendants jointly and severally infringed on his copyright “by adapting, producing, distributing, marketing, advertising and performing” the song to the general public “without his consent or authorization (either written or oral).”
He is also seeking perpetual Injunction retraining, preventing and or prohibiting the defendants whether acting by themselves, or through their servants, agents, privies, legal representatives, or any other person howsoever from infringing on his copyright to the song.
Nnam also wants the court to compel the defendants to jointly and severally render an account of the profits, income, and benefits generated from the adaptation, production, distribution, sale, advertisement, marketing, and performance of the song from December 2020 till judgment and the sum of N150,000,000 as general damages.
His lawyer Michael Amakeze, thenigerialawyer.com added, had on January 28, 2021 written to the defendants on the alleged copyright infringement but the plaintiff’s concerns were ignored.
A knight of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Nnam said he composed the song for private worship and for liturgical purposes in the church.
Renowned for his musical compositions in many languages, Nnam directed the “Papal Choir of a Thousand Voices” in Abuja during Saint Pope John Paul II’s second visit to Nigeria in1998.
He is music director of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and founder of Jude Nnam Foundation (JNF), an NGO which takes care of the clinical and educational needs of children living with Down Syndrome.
