Nollywood actress and filmmaker Bimbo Ademoye has offered a ₦1 million reward for information leading to the location of a man she accused of falsely claiming copyright ownership of her film’s soundtrack.
Ademoye accused an individual identified as Enemuo of using a song created for her film, My 30th Wedding, to claimearnings from the production.
In a post she later deleted, the actress said the soundtrack was produced for her by former Nigerian Idol winner Progress and that she owned the rights to it.
She also urged her followers to report Enemuo’s social media accounts and called on YouTube and its African division to intervene.
“I’m sick and tired of this. I have 1 million naira for anyone who can locate this person for me. I will not rest until I catchthis one,” she wrote.
“A movie I spent my blood on. You’re claiming copyright for a song that was done for me by Progress that I fully own.I’m tired of this. This is sickening. How do you sit down and try to claim someone’s sweat, so all the money would go toyou and you too you’d take it?”
Ademoye alleged that Enemuo uploaded the song three weeks before claiming ownership and urged her followers to report the account across social media platforms.
She later announced that the film’s monetisation rights had been restored, thanking her mother, Uduak Isong, comedian Sir Fela and Progress for helping resolve the issue.
“We’re back in guys. God is good. Thank you Jesus. Our monetisation is back on. Thank you jesus for not letting my hardwork go in vain,” she wrote.
The actress, however, maintained that the ₦1 million reward remained available for anyone who could physically locate Enemuo, whom she claimed was around Colchester or the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
Enemuo later apologised, saying he uploaded the soundtrack to promote it to a wider audience and did not intend toinfringe on Ademoye’s rights.
He said the distribution platform had placed a YouTube Content ID claim on the song and that he had taken it down from streaming platforms.
“My intention in uploading the song was to help share and promote the beautiful sound with a wider audience, not to infringe on your rights or cause you any distress,” he wrote.
“The upload was never meant to trigger a Content ID claim for the sound, but to share the soundtrack with a wideraudience.”
He added that he had contacted the distributor to ensure the copyright claim was removed and apologised for their convenience.
Ademoye rejected the explanation, questioning how Enemuo’s channel, which she said had about 250 subscribers, could help promote the soundtrack to her audience of nearly two million subscribers.
She also questioned why he had selected the song from her film rather than another soundtrack and accused him of attempting to claim earnings from her work.
“After you ‘helped me reach a wider audience’, why did you try to claim my earnings? Why did you monetise it and haveme demonitised?” she wrote.
She vowed to pursue the matter and said she would make an example of him.
Ademoye also shared screenshots of apologies from people whose channels she said had been reported for copyright infringement. She dismissed claims that she had failed to protect her work or was using the dispute to seek publicity.
My 30th Wedding, released on October 1, has garnered 29 million views on YouTube.
Erizia Rubyjeana
Follow us on:
