The Commercial Court 7 in Accra on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, handed down a verdict in the long-standing copyright infringement case between music producer Spiky and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The court found CAF guilty of using the beat of Spiky’s song “Okomfo Anokye” without permission for promotional materials for the 2018 CAF Awards. Justice Emmanuel Loddoh, who presided over the case, ordered CAF to pay damages of GHS 250,000 (equivalent to USD250,000) and legal costs of GHS40,000.
Spiky, whose real name is Kwabena Ofei-Kwadey Nkrumah, accused CAF of disrespecting his intellectual property rights and causing him to lose potential earnings from licensing his music for commercial use. He had initially called out CAF on social media in 2019 for copyright infringement and later sued them when they failed to respond to his demands for compensation.
CAF admitted to using Spiky’s work without permission but claimed that the music was available online for free download and was not used for commercial purposes. However, the court rejected this defense and held CAF liable for the infringement.
Spiky celebrated his victory on social media, writing: “A win for the creative industry: CAF vs Spiky’s.”
