Music producer Spiky wins $250,000 damages in copyright case against CAF

The Commercial Court 7 in Accra on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, gave a verdict on the copyright infringement case between music producer Spiky and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The court found CAF guilty in the case for not seeking permission from Spiky before using the beat of his music titled, ‘Okomfo Anokye,’ as part of promotional materials for the 2018 CAF awards.

Justice Emmanuel Loddoh who presided over the case, awarded damages of Ghana Cedis equivalent of USD250,000 and a legal cost of GHS 40,000 against CAF.

According to Spiky (born Kwabena Ofei-Kwadey Nkrumah), CAF’s act was total disrespect for his intellectual property rights, causing him to lose money from any licensing of his music for commercial use.

Before suing CAF, Spiky had called them out in 2019, for copyright infringement in a series of tweets. He noted that even though CAF had sent an email admitting to using his work without his consent and had apologised, they did not reply to him when he made a demand for compensation. (Read more articles:  Golden voices from the past,  Five emotional advantages of single life)Simi reacts to critiques after saying she doesn't listen to music.

CAF, while admitting to failing to the offence, said the musical work was “available online for free download without any restrictions or conditions, to use for the artwork posted on CAF’s social media platforms.”

They also denied using the soundtrack for commercial purposes, citing that the CAF Awards was not a profit-making venture. They further explained that they deleted the work from their social media accounts and apologised to Spiky.

Expressing his excitement on social media, Spiky, also a tech expert, wrote: "A win for the creative industry: CAF vs Spiky's."