Copyright: Court orders Coca-Cola to pay N3 million compensation to Kwara publisher
Coca-Cola Nigeria and the Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC) have been ordered by a Federal High Court in Lagos to compensate Abdulmumineen Onilemarun, a publisher whose work was improperly utilizsd for religious reasons, N3 million compensation.
Justice Daniel Osiagor, who presided over the court, found both Coca-cola Nigeria and NBC guilty of infringing on Onilemarun’s calendar work on fasting time for Muslims in Kwara state during the Ramadan period.
Justice Osiagor’s ruling is the sequel to Abdullahi Ibrahim, Counsel to Onilemarun’s application in which it accused Coca-cola Plc of infringing on the Plaintiff’s work, by using the calendar work in the Ramadan timing for dawn meal and breaking of fasting in Kwara State, 2014 and 2015, without his consent, license, and assignment.
In the application, he urged the court to make in his favour the following reliefs; “an award of damages of N10 million against the defendants for infringement of copyright by way of unlawful reproducing unlawful publishing and unlawful distributing of his copyright work in the Ramadan Timing for Dawn Meal & Breaking of fasting for Kwara State, 2014, without his consent, license, and assignment.
“An award of damages of N10 million against the defendants for breach of confidence of secret information and his secret idea for making an accurate Ramadan timetable by using the said information and idea in producing Coca Cola Ilorin Ramadan Timing June/July 2015 in the course of their trade as well as for infringement of copyright by way of unlawful reproducing and unlawful publishing of substantial similarity of the plaintiff’s particular method in the copyrighted work of the Ramadan Timing for Dawn Meal and Breaking of Fasting for Kwara State, 2015, without his consent, license, and assignment.
“An order of accounts for profits made by the defendants, in Kwara State, between 29 June 2014 and 28th July 2014 as well as between 17 June 2015 and 16th July 2015.
“An order sharing to him 40 percent of total profits made by the defendants in Kwara State, between 29th June 2014 and 28th July 2014 as well as between 17th June 2015 and 16th July 2015. And an award of costs of this action against the defendants.”
Coca-Cola Plc and NBC Limited, through their lawyer, Peter Agboola, urged the court to dismiss the writer’s suit against them for lacking in merit.
The defendants argued that the said writer’s work did not include literature to which the copyright would attach.
They also argued that for a work to be eligible for copyright, such work must be original, in which sufficient effort must have been expended on making the work have an original character.
Sequel to the foregoing, they told the court that, there was no evidence before the court of the original work published by the plaintiff which they allegedly violated.
They further told the court that they were granted a license by the plaintiff and that the plaintiff consented to the exploitation of the work and voluntarily assumed the risk.
In conclusion, they submitted that there was no agreement or contemplation of any agreement for compensation because the calendars were not used for any economic purpose but for the educational purpose of the Muslim community during the time of Ramadan.
Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Osiagor raised only one issue for determination; “Whether the Plaintiff’s claim of copyright has been proved to deserve protection and be entitled to the reliefs sought?”
literary or musical work, to do, authorize the doing of the following acts: reproduce the work in any material form; publish the work; Thus, the evidential burden is on the defendant to establish that they had the consent or authority of the plaintiff to publish his correct version of the Ramadan Timetable as only the plaintiff has the exclusive right to control the doing in Nigeria of the above acts, no other person can use his work without license or authorization. I, therefore find in the plaintiff’s favor and resolve the sole issue in the affirmative.
“The plaintiff is entitled to damages which will fully compensate him for his loss. See the Hebridean Coast (1960) 2 ALL E.R 85. The court awards the sum of N3 million as general damages in favour of the Plaintiff for infringement of his copyright………”
Follow the Neptune Prime channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va74ZvU2v1IqKByXoX3d
Do you have breaking news, interview request, opinion, suggestion, or want your event covered? Email us at neptuneprime2233@gmail.com
