Court Dismisses N5bn Suit Against Sinach Over ‘Way Maker’

The Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, has dismissed a N5 billion suit filed by Michael Oluwole against gospel artiste Mrs. Osinachi Joseph Egbu, popularly known as Sinach, over the song Way Maker.

The judgment was disclosed in a statement posted by Sinach on her X page on Friday, with a corroborating statement from her record label, Gosgem Records, attached.

In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/402/2024, Oluwole claimed to be an author and co-owner of Way Maker.

He sought declarations of co-authorship and co-ownership, an equitable sharing of all fees from licences and assignments linked to the song, damages for alleged infringement of his performer’s rights, and N5 billion in general damages.

Delivering judgment, Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa held that the plaintiff failed to prove authorship or co-ownership of the musical work.

The court ruled that Way Maker was originally created and performed by Sinach, including a prior performance in South Africa, before the plaintiff was engaged to mix and master the already existing work for commercial album release in 2015.

According to the statement, the court observed that the plaintiff was paid for those technical services under an oral agreement.

The court emphasised that authorship under copyright law is vested in the natural person who created the original expressive content, such as melody, harmony, lyrics, or arrangement.

“A producer, engineer or session contributor does not become an author merely by providing technical or instrumental support unless they create original expressive content,” the court stated.

“The Plaintiff’s own evidence and admissions under examination confirmed that the Defendant brought an existing song which he then developed into a recorded musical work for a fee.”

Consequently, Justice Lewis-Allagoa described the plaintiff’s case as “gold-digging and unmeritorious” and dismissed the suit.

Reacting to the judgment, the Chairman of Slic Inspire Ltd. and Gosgem Records, Joseph Egbu, together with Sinach, said the ruling reaffirms Sinach’s sole authorship and ownership of Way Maker.

Oluwole had filed the suit in 2024 claiming co-ownership rights to the song.

Sinach’s counsel, Emeka Etiaba, SAN, denied the allegations, maintaining that she is the sole author.

The legal team argued that the song was composed, arranged, and performed in collaboration with other artists, including Nwabude Chude Arinze, before Oluwole became involved.

Federal High Courts have jurisdiction over copyright matters in Nigeria and have made several pronouncements on such issues over the years.

In a related 2025 development, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation withdrew criminal copyright infringement charges filed against MTN Nigeria and its CEO, Karl Toriola.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission had sued the telecom company over alleged unauthorised use of musical works as caller ringback tones.

The case was struck out after the charges were withdrawn.