Do not be discouraged - Vida Adutwumwaa to Team Eternity amidst copyright infringement allegations

In response to the recent copyright infringement accusations against the gospel group Team Eternity, entertainment pundit Vida Adutwumwaa Boateng has encouraged the public to be understanding and supportive of the group.

During a discussion on UTV’s United Showbiz, Vida Adutwumwaa suggested that the song's elements might have been inadvertently picked up from a tune the musicians heard in church.

She added that the incident should serve as a wake-up call for gospel musicians to ensure they do not unintentionally use someone else's material in their songs.

“They have a beautiful story of how the song was composed; one of them mentioned how they didn't even expect the song to do as well as it did among all the songs on the album.

“It could have been something they had been hearing in church and did not know it was from someone else's song and just added it to their song.

“But this whole matter with Kwame Mickey has brought up that sense of awakening for many gospel musicians to recognize that not every song they sing in the church can just be applied to their song,” she said.

She suggested that the group should amicably settle the issue with the claimant, Kwame Mickey, who is open to resolving the matter outside of court.

She stated that learning from this experience could lead to even greater success in the future, she noted.

“What I would say is that they shouldn’t be discouraged because from their interviews when this matter came up, they were seriously affected.

“As much as Kwame Mickey wants to settle this matter out of court, they should learn from this and produce more original songs

“For all we know, the next original song may be bigger than this. They should just resolve this matter, get a nice package for Kwame Mickey and learn from this,” she said.

Background:

Kwame Mickey, the executive producer for Hallelujah Voices, claims that Team Eternity Ghana has unlawfully used the 'Defe Defe' phrase in their new song.

While some argue that the expression 'Defe Defe' cannot be owned by Hallelujah Voices, others point out lyrical similarities between the two songs.

Hallelujah Voices' version includes the line "Manhyia Nyame a anka ɔbonsam ayɛ me defe defe," while Team Eternity's rendition goes "Manhyia Nyame a anka y’ayɛ me defe defe."

The dispute has sparked conversations about copyright laws and the importance of artists obtaining permission before incorporating elements of others' work into their own creations.

ID/OGB