The Nigerian Copyright Commission has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd., and its CEO Karl Toriola, Senior Executive Officer Nkeakam Abhulimen, Fun Mobile Ltd and its CEO Yahaya Maibe, in a separate case.
The three-count charge, filed on March 20, 2024, and designated FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024, is currently before Justice Inyang Ekwo.
According to the prosecution, the defendants “offered for sale, sold and traded for business, infringed musical works of Maleke Moye, an artiste, without his consent and authorisation” between 2010 and 2017.
The defendants allegedly exploited Maleke’s copyrighted musical compositions as “caller ring back tunes” without permission, according to the NCC.
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Alleged infringed music
The alleged infringed music are “911, Minimini-Wana Wana, Stop Racism, Ewole, 911 instrumental, Radio, Low Waist, and No Bother.”
Furthermore, it was alleged that the suspects distributed the musical pieces to subscribers without the consent of the artiste.
They were accused on the third count of possessing the works for purposes other than domestic or personal use.
The NCC declared that Section 20 (2) (a), (b), and (c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, impose penalties for the accused violations.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, expressed interest in taking over the case. Thus, Justice Ekwo postponed it until May 15.
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MTN Nigeria CEO faces contempt charges
Similarly, Toriola, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, is facing another lawsuit along with other executives.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) arraigned MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola, MTN’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, Tobechukwu Okigbo, and Ikenna Ikeme, General Manager, Regulatory Affairs, for violating the FCCPC Act by allegedly failing to provide the commission with the information and documents it requested in response to a valid summons.
The accused are scheduled to appear before Federal High Court Judge H.J. Yilwa in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The FCCPC listed MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Toriola, Okigbo, and Ikeme as the first through fourth defendants in a charge designated FHC/ABJ/CR/354/2024.
A legal team headed by Akoji Achimugu filed the two-count charge on July 22, 2024, but it was dated July 19, 2024.
Justice Yilwa asked why the suspects were not present at a prior court hearing. Chizenum Nsitem, the attorney for the FCCPC, clarified that although the arraignment date was set, he had only received the briefing and needed more time to review the case file.
The case was then postponed until May 28 by the judge.