Nairobi News

ChillaxGeneralHashtagMust ReadNewsWhat's Hot

Court: Nyashinski looses round one in multi-million legal battle, ordered to produce bank receipts


Musician and rapper Nyashinski has lost round one in a Copyright infringement case. Nyashinski was sued by Nigerian music producer Sam Are Eliapenda over a multi-million endorsement deal he signed with Tecno Kenya Limited in May 2023.

Nairobi News understand the deal was worth Sh12 million but couldn’t independently verify that.

Honorable Magistrate Selina Muchungi on Friday 9th, made a ruling on the matter ordering the singer to produce the contract between him and Tecno, bank transactions, and royalty reports of the songs in question to aid in the determination of the case.

This follows an application by Sam Are’s lawyer David Katee, asking the court to compel Nyashinski to produce the documents.

Nyashinkí’s counsel had earlier challenged the application, stating that the plaintiff hadn’t given a valid reason why he needed the documents that are subject to a non-disclosure agreement between the singer and Tecno.

“The application is dated 15th April 2024. I have set out the prayers in the ruling. I also looked at the grounds and the affidavit by the plaintiff and annexures. I looked at the response by the first defendant (Nyashinski), I also looked at the submission and authorities the parties relied on, grounds and principles that cover such an application and I found that the documents sought to be discovered are necessary and relevant for the fair determination of this suit. The application is merited, it’s allowed as prayed. The date for pre-trial is 25th of September, 2024,” Hon Magistrate Muchungi  ruled.

Also Read: Copyright battle: Nyashinski in hot water, fails to produce Tecno contract and is unreachable

The content of the contract has become the bone of contention since Sam Are made his intentions to sue Nyashinski last year accusing the celebrated rapper of using the hit song ‘Wach Wach’ he produced to advertise, promote and endorse Tecno Camon 20, without seeking his consent or at least compensate him.

Sam Are and  Nyashinski co-own publishing rights of ‘Wach Wach’ at 50 percent each however the rapper owns 100 percent Master rights of the record.

Based on the publishing rights split, Sam Are argues in court papers that he is entitled to a percentage of the millions made from the endorsement deal but Nyashinski hasn’t been cooperative.
“Nyashinski and his legal team now have to produce all the documents we requested by 25th September as per the ruling of the court. On the 25th we will go for pre-trial where we will inform the court if the documents were produced. If not the court will give us the liberty to apply for contempt of court,” Katee told Showbuzz. ​