U.S Court Gives Davido 21 Days to Respond to Copyright Lawsuit Over Alleged Song Theft

U.S Court Gives Davido 21 Days to Respond to Copyright Lawsuit Over Alleged Song Theft: The United States District Court in Manhattan has given Nigerian music star David ‘Davido’ Adeleke 21 days to appear before it in response to a lawsuit accusing him of intellectual property theft.

The suit, filed on April 4, involves four Nigerian artistes – Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel, Abel Great Umaru, Kelvin Ayodele Campbell, and David Ovhioghena Umaru – who allege that Davido stole their 2022 song Work to create his 2024 release Strawberry on Ice.

Also named in the suit are Sierra Leonean singer Emmerson (Emmerson Amidu Bockarie), who featured on Davido’s track, as well as Carlos Jenkins, Matthew Quinney, Marques Miles II, and Wynn Records, which published and distributed the disputed song.

Court documents reveal that the plaintiffs originally shared Work with Davido in January 2022, hoping for a collaboration. However, they allege that Davido instead passed the track to Emmerson, who sampled its vocals and instrumentals to create Strawberry on Ice without permission.

After months of trying to resolve the matter privately, the plaintiffs said Davido agreed to settle on March 14, 2025. The agreement included a $45,000 payment and a royalty split-40% for the song’s composition and 20% for the recording. But Davido allegedly failed to honor the deal by the March 24 deadline.

As a result, the plaintiffs are now demanding $150,000 in d+mages and legal recognition of their ownership: 40% of the compositional rights and 20% of the recording rights for Strawberry on Ice. They are also asking the court to bar Davido and his collaborators from further infringement or similar future actions.

Davido has yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit.

Wynn Records also declined to comment when contacted by Peoples Gazette.

U.S. Court Gives Davido 21 Days to Respond to Copyright Lawsuit Over Alleged Song Theft

The United States District Court in Manhattan has given Nigerian music star David ‘Davido’ Adeleke 21 days to appear before it in response to a lawsuit accusing him of intellectual property… pic.twitter.com/Qr3qcuqROb

— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) April 10, 2025