Earlier this year, a gospel group from Ghana sparked a popular dance challenge.
In May, Team Eternity Ghana released “Defe Defe,” which climbed the charts in Africa and claimed the top spot on Ghana’s Apple Music Top 100 list a week after it dropped. Soon afterward, Britain’s Got Talent’s Afronitaaa started the dance challenge that went viral. Within three months of its release, the original live performance of “Defe Defe” racked up 4.4 million views on YouTube.
But in the wake of the song’s enthusiastic reception, Team Eternity Ghana has found itself tangled in a copyright dispute with Ghanaian producer Kwame Mickey, who said they unlawfully used original lyrics from a song he produced (also called “Defe Defe”) 20 years ago.
Like any growing genre, Christian music’s increasing global popularity has placed a higher value on hits—and raised the stakes of proper attribution and credit. But in a Christian context, conflicts over credit and compensation can be especially fraught. The appearance of greed or opportunism can threaten a Christian artist’s reputation, but failure to claim credit threatens their livelihood—especially for independent musicians and producers or those working in smaller and developing industries like Ghana’s.
“Many dismiss the importance of legal considerations with statements like ‘Since it’s a God thing, it’s free and for everyone,’” said Eugene Zuta, a Ghanaian songwriter and worship leader. “As a result, copyright issues are often disregarded, and regulations are violated. Some of my songs have been used by others, who make light of their infringement with lame excuses.”
In public comments and interviews, Mickey claimed that Team Eternity Ghana used words original to the chorus of his version of “Defe Defe.” Both choruses include the common Ghanaian expression defe defe as a refrain to convey the same basic message: Without God’s help, they would have been defeated by their enemies (defe defe roughly translates to “defeated”).
Team Eternity Ghana’s “Defe Defe” is an upbeat contemporary gospel anthem featuring segments of rap and improvisational solo vocals. The lyrics blend English and Twi, the language spoken by the Akan people, the largest ethnic group in Ghana. The first verse begins in English—“Father, the universe you made”—and switches to Twi at the beginning of the second stanza—“Bɔhyɛ na Wohyɛɛ no aba mu o” (“The promise you made has come to pass”).
Mickey’s “Defe Defe” employs a more traditional Ghanaian folk-influenced sound and electronic drumbeats. Musically, Mickey’s song has little in common with Team Eternity Ghana’s “Defe Defe,” aside from the use of an identical phrase.
In June, Mickey accused the group of song theft, prompting the Ghana Copyright Office to weigh in on the dispute. James Owusu-Ansah, a researcher for the office urged the parties to settle out of court, saying that a proceeding would be “time consuming, tiresome and expensive.”
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Meanwhile, on social media, Team Eternity Ghana fans accused Mickey of making a money grab. Mickey publicly denied any interest in a payout, saying in an interview that he already receives substantial income from other sources.
By July, the parties had reached a settlement, with Mickey telling the press that he received both an apology and a financial sum. The producer also said that he granted Team Eternity Ghana rights to use the phrase derived from his existing song.
The music industry in Ghana is far less litigious than in the US, where lawsuits over lyrics, grooves, and sampling are commonplace.
“The importance of preserving intellectual property in our part of the world is still not very popular; most people tend to overlook it. Intellectual property is still a new concept to most people, and they do not see [music] as property worth protecting,” said Ghanaian attorney Adwoa Paintsil.
She also pointed out that Ghanaian artists try to quietly settle disputes.
“There is a tendency to settle matters quickly and out of court,” Paintsil told CT. “Thankfully, a few people have taken the bold step by instituting actions to preserve their intellectual property.”
Paintsil pointed to a recent example of a case in which a Ghanaian music producer sued the Confederation of African Football for copyright infringement and was awarded $250,000 by the court. Paintsil said that cases like this may help raise awareness in the industry about what it means to fairly and ethically use someone’s musical output and show artists that they have recourse when another creator or entity uses their intellectual property without permission.
For some, the case of “Defe Defe” is less about intellectual property and more about who gets to lay claim to religious phrases, texts, or themes.
“It is a known fact that almost every gospel song takes its inspiration from Christian beliefs and practices,” said Paintsil. “Religious sentiments, dogma, practices cannot be copyrighted.”
In Paintsil’s view, to claim the rights to the phrase defe defe would be to claim ownership over a common Akan expression.
“Establishing originality of the word defe would have been a herculean task for the producer, as it is a vernacular word,” Paintsil added. “It is not a special phrase invented by Kwame Mickey. And the song does not use a unique interpretation of the phrase other than what is commonly known within the Akan community. The use of defe on its own would fail to meet the test of originality.”
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Nonetheless, Team Eternity Ghana’s payment of a settlement suggests that, at the very least, the artists involved wanted to avoid a prolonged public conflict. Paintsil also said that a settlement suggests Team Eternity did not challenge the authorship of the producer.
The worship megahit “Way Maker,” written and originally recorded by Nigerian artist Sinach, is also currently the center of a conflict between the recording artist and a producer. Recently, the original studio recordings of “Way Maker” have been removed from platforms like Facebook and YouTube in the midst of a dispute with producer Michael Anthony Oluwole.
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In 2023, Oluwole spoke publicly about his claim that Sinach had failed to give him a production credit for the song, which would have generated royalty payouts.
“It is what it is. People tell you this is for God and we’re doing it for God,” said Oluwole. “They understand what royalty is, they know how to sign for royalties. … They signed it as though they produced it. And that’s how it’s been done in the gospel space in Nigeria.”
Oluwole said he repeatedly and personally reached out to Sinach to resolve the oversight with no success. In August 2024, fans noticed that the original studio recording of “Way Maker” had been removed on various online platforms. Currently, the recording is still absent from Sinach’s YouTube channel. Neither Sinach nor Oluwole have spoken openly about details of the ongoing dispute.
As the viral success of songs like “Way Maker” and “Defe Defe” suggests, the global Christian music industry is unpredictable, and social media can drive a song’s popularity without traditional gatekeepers. In an environment where one surprise viral hit can generate life-changing income and launch a career, producers, songwriters, and artists will need to securely credit their musical contributions and proactively protect their intellectual property.
“People think we had a release strategy, promotion budget, and stuff like that, but guess what? It wasn’t like that,” Joseph Gordon, one of the singers in Team Eternity Ghana, said in an interview. “We count it all to the grace of God.”
