Rapper and songwriter Nyamari Ongegu (Nyashinski) has suffered another setback in a copyright infringement case filed against him by a Nigerian music producer.
The celebrated rapper will now be compelled to produce contract documents on a multi-million-shilling brand ambassador deal he signed with Tecno Kenya in May 2023, potentially revealing how much he was paid under the agreement.
This follows the High Court’s dismissal of an appeal in which Nyashinski had sought to prevent disclosure of the contract and its financial details.
Sources familiar with the deal told Business Daily that the deal that made Nyashinski the face of Tecno’s Camon 20 smartphone was worth about Sh12million.
Nyashinski’s legal troubles in the matter date back to 2023, when Nigerian music producer Sam Are Eliapenda filed a case at a Magistrate’s Court accusing the rapper of infringing his copyright when he entered into the endorsement deal with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer without his consent.
Eliapenda produced the beats for Nyashinski’s hit song Wach Wach , which was prominently featured in Tecno’s Camon 20 marketing campaigns following the endorsement deal.
The producer argued that, as the creator of the music used by Tecno in commercials featuring Nyashinski, he was entitled to a share of the earnings from the contract. Eliapenda told the court that he had unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with Nyashinski before turning to the courts.
In his plea, the producer asked the Magistrate’s Court to compel Nyashinski to produce the endorsement contract and related financial records so that the amount he received from the deal could be established.
On August 9, 2024, the court ordered Nyashinski to produce details of the contract, including bank transaction records and royalty reports on the disputed song, to help settle the matter.
The Magistrate’s Court said that the sought contract documents were necessary and relevant for a fair determination of the suit.
Nyashinski, however, moved swiftly to the High Court, filing an appeal on August 21, 2024 against the magistrate’s decision.
He faulted the magistrate’s ruling, arguing that it failed to provide directions, safeguards and/or mechanisms to ensure that his personal data, financials, legal obligations and personal brand are protected from blackmail, extortion, exploitation, fraud and abuse.
The rapper insisted that releasing the documents would expose his trade secrets, putting him at a commercial disadvantage and exposing him to potential losses.
He also faulted the magistrate for incorrectly extending the scope of privity of contract by allowing the music producer to seek the documents he has no contractual rights to access, insisting that the contract document does not bear a material connection to the core issue of the case.
Further, the rapper argued that disclosing the contract and the amount he was paid would breach a non-disclosure clause between him and Tecno. He further insisted that the producer had not given the court a meaningful reason for demanding the contract because he was not a party to the agreement between Nyashinski and Tecno.
But the producer argued back, stating that availing the contract is crucial in determining the losses he has suffered as far as his 50 percent publishing rights of the song Wach Wach , which was heavily used in the promotion of the Tecno Camon 20, is concerned. Eliapenda also accused Nyashinski of contradiction, having initially told the Magistrate Court that there existed no such contract as he was paid in cash.
The High Court initially gave Nyashinski reprieve on the appeal, suspending the execution of the magistrate’s ruling pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
“On careful consideration of the application, there is no doubt that the applicant (Nyashinski) stands to suffer loss if no orders are granted in the event the appeal succeeds. That is so because the fear the applicant has will be long realised with no possibility of reversal. Once the documents are released on discovery, then the process intimated to by the applicant will automatically set in motion. The application therefore is merited. There be a stay of execution of the ruling delivered by Hon Selina Muchungi pending determination of the appeal,” the High Court ruled in 2025.
Last Friday, the High Court dismissed Nyashinski’s appeal, effectively clearing the way for the disclosure of the documents and ending the temporary stay that had shielded the contract from disclosure.
“The magistrate exercised proper discretion in finding that the 1st applicant (Nyashinski) & Tecno Mobile should produce the documents requested by the 1st respondent (Sam Are Eliapenda Jedidiah). The Magistrate’s finding was sound in law. Appeal dismissed with costs to the 1st respondent,” the court ordered.
With the appeal dismissed, the matter now returns to the Magistrate’s Court, where Nyashinski will be required to produce the contract and related financial records.
The documents could reveal the finer details of the Tecno deal, including the financial value attached to the endorsement, before the copyright case proceeds to its substantive hearing and trial.
The bone of contention on the matter is largely pegged on the ownership rights of the song Wach Wach , which was used in a commercial advertisement.
According to the split sheet contract terms – which is a written agreement outlining how ownership and royalties are divided among collaborators on a song – Nyashinski owns 100 percent of the master rights to the song. However, the rapper and the producer split the publishing rights to the song, with each owning 50 percent.
Eliapenda argues that he is entitled to a percentage of the millions Nyashinski made from the endorsement deal, based on his publishing rights ownership of the song.
“The rights of the appellant are not superior to the rights of any other persons; thus, the appellant cannot claim privacy after publicly disenfranchising me of millions of shillings through the copyright-infringing advertisement made together with him and the 2nd respondent and now claim privacy,” he states in his court pleadings.
However, in his defence, Nyashinski maintains his deal with Tecno wasn’t a publishing deal as Eliapenda claims but rather one which included image rights, appearance, video/photo shoots, and social media association.
Nyashinski further argues that, through his company, GETA International, he signed a fair use agreement with Tecno for the use of the song Wach Wach, which he had every right to, as he owns 100 percent Master Rights and didn’t need any consent from the producer.
