Davido
By Publisher
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David Adeleke, a.k.a. Davido, Nigeria’s popular singer is to appear before the U.S. Southern District of New York Court within 21 days over accusations of intellectual theft of a song and failing to settle a $45,000 debt with Nigerian artists.
Four Nigerian artistes: Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel, Abel Great Umaru, Kelvin Ayodele Campbell, and David Ovhioghena Umaru filed the theft case against Davido.
They accused Davido of stealing their 2022 song “Work” and using it to create his track, “Strawberry on Ice,” which was released in 2024.
Also listed as defendants in the suit are Emmerson Amidu Bockarie, known professionally as Emmerson, who was featured on the track, and several other individuals, including Carlos Jenkins, Matthew Quinney, Marques Miles II, and Wynn Records, the agency that published and distributed “Strawberry on Ice.”
The matter dates back to January 2022 when the plaintiffs allegedly shared a demo of their song “Work” with Davido, hoping for a collaboration. Instead of working together, they claimed that Davido took their song and gave it to Emmerson, who used elements of it to create the new track without permission.
According to the plaintiffs, they reached an agreement with Davido in March 2025, where he promised to pay $45,000 and give them a share of royalties for the song. They were to receive 40% of the royalties for the composition and 20% for the sound recording of “Strawberry on Ice.”
However, Davido’s failure to meet the deadline to fulfil his promise made the plaintiffs to file a lawsuit on April 4, 2025, seeking a court ruling on the infringement of their intellectual property rights.
The plaintiffs also want to be compensated with $150,000 in damages and have 40% of the compositional copyright and 20% of the sound recording copyright of “Strawberry on Ice” transferred to them.
Additionally, they are asking the court to stop Davido and his co-defendants from infringing upon their rights or future works.
