Wakadinali sue influencer Brian Mutinda on copyright claim for Geri Inegi

The influencer is being sued by rap group Wakadinali for using their song Geri Inegi in one of his content pieces. The group said attempts to resolve the matter out of court had hit a snag.

“It is with great sadness that we bring this to the public, our music was being infringed upon by some entities and we tried to resolve it privately but they refused to settle with us,” Wakidanali said.

Squad Digital, a subsidiary of Scangroup, an agency which Mutinda is working under had earlier responded to Wakadinali saying that the music used in the commercial was available in the Instagram music library and was therefore licensed under the platform.

"Please be advised that one can record a reel with their own original audio with original audio by another reels creator or with music from the Instagram music library using the audio tool in reels. Your client music was available in the Instagram music library. Licensed audio is copyrighted audio available on the Instagram music library," said the letter by the scan group.

However in a demand letter issued by rap group, the influencer was required to issue an apology on his social media pages as well as on the pages where his client published content with the song.

READ: Stop creating memes from copyrighted content - KECOBO

Influencer Brian Mutinda Influencer Brian Mutinda Pulse Live Kenya

“We shall engage you on quantum upon admission of guilt. Should you choose to ignore this demand, we have mandatory and unequivocal instruction from our client to institute legal proceedings against both of you in a court of law,” read the demand letter.

Nonini versus Brian Mutinda

The move by Wakadinali comes days after musician Hubert Mbuku Nakitare popularly known as Nonini threatened to take legal action against content creator and influencer Brian Mutinda for infringement of copyright.

Nonini, through his lawyers, accused the influencer of publishing an advert for an electronics manufacturer without seeking permission to use his music in the video.

Nonini made three demands to the retailer and the influencer which if not met will lead to legal proceedings against the respondents.

READ: Rapper Nonini goes after social media influencer in legal battle

Rapper Hubert Mbuku Nakitare alias Nonini Rapper Hubert Mbuku Nakitare alias Nonini Pulse Live Kenya

"We have been instructed to demand the following from you: Immediately pull down the video from your social media pages; Issue a public apology in the same magnitude to our client to be posted on both social media pages; Both parties to admit liability within the next seven days," read an excerpt of the documents.

Nonini filed the suit at the Milimani Law Courts on August 19, 2022.