The Southern District Court of New York has given Nigerian music star Davido 21 days to appear in court following accusations of intellectual property theft. The lawsuit, filed by four Nigerian artists—Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel, Abel Great Umaru, Kelvin Ayodele Campbell, and David Ovhioghena Umaru—claims that Davido stole their 2022 song “Work” to create his 2024 track, “Strawberry on Ice.”
The lawsuit names Davido, along with Emmerson Amidu Bockarie (also known as Emmerson), who featured on Davido’s track, as well as other defendants including Carlos Jenkins, Matthew Quinney, Marques Miles II, and Wynn Records, the distribution agency behind “Strawberry on Ice.”
According to the legal documents, the dispute began in January 2022 when the plaintiffs shared a demo of their song “Work” with Davido in hopes of collaborating. However, they allege that instead of collaborating, Davido took the song to Emmerson, who then sampled parts of the demo—both instrumental and vocal elements—to produce “Strawberry on Ice” without permission.
After months of communication, the plaintiffs claim they reached an agreement with Davido in March 2025. This agreement stipulated that Davido would pay $45,000 in settlement and share 40% of the royalties from the composition and 20% from the sound recording of “Strawberry on Ice.” However, Davido failed to meet the March 24 payment deadline, prompting the plaintiffs to take legal action.
Filed on April 4 in New York, the lawsuit seeks a court ruling on the infringement of intellectual property rights, along with $150,000 in damages. The plaintiffs are also asking for the transfer of 40% of the compositional copyright and 20% of the sound recording copyright of “Strawberry on Ice” to them. Furthermore, they are requesting an injunction to prevent Davido and his co-defendants from further infringing upon their copyrights or engaging in future violations.
This legal battle shines a spotlight on the importance of intellectual property protection in the music industry and could have significant implications for how such cases are handled in the future.
