Gospel group, Alabaster Box, has been granted permission by the Accra High Court to serve Ghanaian rapper Samuel Adu Frimpong, known as Medikal, via court documents through the court's notice board, social media, and his manager.

The court gave the order after unsuccessful attempts to reach out to the rapper through conventional means.

Earlier this year, Alabaster Box took legal action against Medikal, for allegedly using part of their song without permission.

The group is demanding GHC15 million in damages, claiming Medikal copied the first ten seconds of their 2002 hit Akwaaba in his new track Welcome to Africa.

In a court document, Alabaster Box says the rapper used the sample without asking for their approval.

They are asking the court to stop the use of the song, order compensation, and require Medikal to share all earnings made from the track.

The lawsuit also mentions that even after sending a demand letter to Medikal, the song is still being played on major streaming platforms like Apple Music, Boomplay, Spotify, and Audiomack, and is also getting radio airplay.

Alabaster Box is seeking to protect their intellectual property, creative work, and years of effort. The group had hoped for an amicable resolution and made five clear demands to Medikal before pursuing a lawsuit. However, their efforts were reportedly ignored.

A written apology to the group, acknowledging the infringement and their concerns.

Immediate removal of Welcome to Africa from all streaming platforms and media channels.

Public acknowledgment that the song contains an unauthorized sample from Akwaaba.

Financial compensation for the alleged use of their intellectual property.

Sharing revenue reports detailing earnings made from the song.

Medikal’s failure to act on these demands

Instead of responding to Alabaster Box’s demands or trying to open a dialogue, Medikal made changes only to the YouTube version of his song Welcome to Africa, removing the first 10 seconds. However, the track remains unchanged on other major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Audiomack, and Boomplay—still including the part the group claims was taken from their song Akwaaba without permission.

Alabaster Box says Medikal’s action is not just insufficient but also shows a lack of respect for their work. Their legal team called it “an admission of guilt” and “a clear indication that Medikal is aware of his infringing conduct.”

“Plaintiff avers that defendant following the receipt of plaintiff's demands, and in admission of his infringing conduct, edited the infringing song on his YouTube channel to remove portions relating to Plaintiff's copyrighted work,” the writ read.

More importantly, the group stated in their lawsuit that Medikal made this change without so much as a phone call, email, or any form of communication with the group or their lawyers.

In the writ submitted to the court, Alabaster Box pointed out that despite being served with formal demands, Medikal “ignored and refused to honour” them.

They further stated that while the YouTube version had been edited, the infringing version was still being promoted and distributed, from radio airplay to streaming platforms, the song is still out there and the group’s copyright is still being infringed, in their view.

“Plaintiff repeats paragraph 25 above and says further that defendant nonetheless maintained and continued to promote the version of the song with plaintiff's infringing copyright work on other digital platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Audiomack, Boomplay and for airplay on radio stations despite plaintiff's demands,” the writ continued.