Federal High Court Dismisses Copyright Suit Against Sinach, Affirms Ownership of ‘Way Maker’

Award-winning Nigerian gospel singer Sinach has announced that the Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed a copyright suit challenging her ownership of the globally acclaimed worship song, Way Maker.

The singer, whose real name is Osinachi Joseph Egbu, disclosed the development in a statement shared on her X account on Friday, describing the judgment as a reaffirmation of her sole authorship and ownership of the internationally celebrated gospel hit.

The suit was instituted by Michael Oluwole, who sought declarations that he was a co-author and co-owner of Way Maker. He also asked the court to order an equitable sharing of royalties from the song, alleged infringement of his performer's rights and demanded N5 billion in general damages.

According to Sinach's statement, Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa dismissed all the claims after finding that the plaintiff failed to establish authorship or co-ownership of the musical work.

The court held that Way Maker had already been written and performed by Sinach before Oluwole was engaged to mix and master the song for its commercial album release in 2015.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa further ruled that the plaintiff's role was limited to providing technical services under an oral agreement for which he had been paid, stressing that copyright authorship belongs to the individual who creates the original expressive content of a musical work.

Quoting the court's findings, the statement noted that the plaintiff's own testimony supported Sinach's case.

"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," the statement quoted the court as saying.

According to the statement, the judge described the suit as "gold-digging and unmeritorious" before dismissing it in its entirety.

Following the judgment, Sinach and Joseph Egbu, Chairman of Slic Inspire Ltd and Gosgem Records, expressed appreciation to their legal team led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Emeka Etiaba, for successfully defending the case.

They said the ruling reinforces Sinach's exclusive ownership and authorship of Way Maker, a song that has gained worldwide recognition since its release and has been translated and performed in multiple languages by churches and gospel artistes across the globe.

The judgment brings to an end the legal challenge over one of the most successful gospel songs to emerge from Nigeria, affirming the court's position that the technical production of a musical work does not confer authorship where the creative composition already existed before such services were rendered.