Nigerian music sensation, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has been summoned by a United States federal court to appear in New York within 21 days to respond to allegations of intellectual property theft and breach of settlement, following a lawsuit filed by four Nigerian artists.
According to court documents filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the plaintiffs, Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel, Abel Great Umaru, Kelvin Ayodele Campbell, and David Ovhioghena Umaru, accused Davido of stealing their 2022 song titled ‘Work’ and using it to create his 2024 track ‘Strawberry on Ice’.
The legal filings claimed that the plaintiffs shared the demo of ‘Work’ with Davido in January 2022, hoping for a collaboration to boost their exposure in the music industry. Instead, they alleged that Davido took the song without permission and collaborated with Sierra Leonean singer Emmerson Amidu Bockarie, known professionally as Emmerson, to recreate the track, incorporating both instrumental and vocal elements from the original demo.
Davido was named in the suit alongside Emmerson, Carlos Jenkins, Matthew Quinney, Marques Miles II, and Wynn Records, the music label responsible for publishing and distributing ‘Strawberry on Ice’.
In an attempt to resolve the matter out of court, the plaintiffs claimed they eventually reached Davido after several months and entered into a settlement agreement on March 14, 2025. The agreement stipulated that Davido would pay the group a sum of $45,000 and grant them 40% of the compositional royalties and 20% of the sound recording royalties for ‘Strawberry on Ice’.
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However, Davido allegedly failed to meet the payment deadline of March 24, 2025, prompting the plaintiffs to initiate legal action on April 4.
In the lawsuit, the group asked the court to declare that their intellectual property rights over ‘Work’ were infringed upon. They also demanded $150,000 in damages and a court-ordered transfer of 40% of the compositional copyright and 20% of the sound recording copyright of ‘Strawberry on Ice’ to them.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs sought an injunction to prevent Davido and his co-defendants from further using or profiting from the song or infringing on any of their future copyrights.
As at press time on Thursday, Davido had not responded to requests for comment. Wynn Records also declined to comment on the matter.
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