A New York court has picked July for the preliminary hearing in the lawsuit filed by Haitian music icon, Fabrice Rouzier, against Afrobeats star Damini Ogulu, professionally known as Burna Boy over allegations that the ‘Ye’ crooner stole sound and video compositions of his 2002 song ‘Je Vais’.
In an order on May 22, 2025, Judge Cheryl Pollak of United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York fixed July 24, 2025 as the date for the first preliminary hearing in the case, directing all parties to be present via the CISCO conference call system, according to legal filings sighted by Peoples Gazette.
The case stems from the recently released hit song ‘4 Kampe II’ by French-Haitian singer Joe Gilles, also known as Joe Dwet File, in collaboration with Burna Boy, which Rouzier is now claiming heavily features storyline, music composition, sound recording, and video material from ‘Je Vais’ without permission.
In earlier court filings, Rouzier claimed the first infringement occurred in fall 2024, when Gilles, a co-defendant in the case, intentionally released ‘4 Kampe’ based on materials from ‘Je Vais’, prompting the plaintiff to issue a cease and desist letter against the defendant, who the plaintiff claimed later admitted to the accusations of infringement.
However, Gilles, who could not overlook the success of ‘4 Kampe’, went ahead to release a remix of the song with Burna Boy titled ‘4 Kampe II’ on March 28, 2025, which the plaintiff claimed again mimicked ‘Je Vais’, with similar lyrics like “Cherie, ou sou sa kampe” in French (‘Darling, let’s do this in the standing position’) despite the cease and desist order.
Rouzier said Burna Boy was fully aware of Gilles’ own admission to stealing from the song from him but both the Grammy Awards winner and his co-defendant made no effort to resolve the matter amicably, prompting the plaintiff to file a lawsuit against them.
The music legend is asking the court to award compensatory and exemplary damages against Gilles and Burna Boy. He is also seeking reimbursement of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
The plaintiff is also praying the court to grant an order barring Mr Gilles, Burna Boy, and their representatives from further use of his persona, image, and likeness in connection with ‘4 Kampe’ and ‘4 Kampe II’, and to issue an order for the destruction of all copies of such videos.
