Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie, real name Michael Owusu Addo, has dragged Ecobank Ghana Plc to court for violating his intellectual property rights.
Sarkodie argues that a recent anti-fraud campaign by the bank under the slogan ‘looks can be deceiving’, which featured an image of a Sarkodie lookalike, was detrimental to his commercial interests.
Lawyers for the veteran rapper commenced an action on his behalf at the High Court in Accra on March 25, 2025.
According to their statement of claim, Ecobank Ghana’s anti-fraud campaign’s use of Sarkodie’s lookalike image is a breach of the provisions of the Protection Against Unfair Competition Act, 2000 Act 589.
Sarkodie’s lawyers argued that the campaign’s use of an image seemingly looking like him led to brand confusion and undermined his existing agreements with competitor banks.
The suit seeks an order of perpetual injunction against Ecobank to stop them from using any image associated with him in their material and an order for them to immediately end the ongoing campaign.
Finally, Sarkodie and his lawyers are seeking damages, plus costs.
At the time of publishing, Ecobank Ghana has yet to respond to the matter.
Sarkodie is no stranger to lawsuits, having been sued himself over some controversial lyrics in the past. As reported by 3news, the ‘Otan’ rapper was sued alongside Kurl Songx for the song ‘Jennifer Lomotey’, in which he rapped about the stereotyped ‘promiscuity’ of Krobo ladies.
