Okafor Law: The Drama and The Lessons

Nollywood is witnessing a legal battle over who owns the story of Omoni Oboli’s latest movie, ‘Okafor’s Law’. Contesting that the movie is his story is Canada-based scriptwriter Jude Idada who had first gone to court in September 2016, suing Omoni Oboli for copyright infringement and claiming he was neither remunerated nor given credits for his work, which eventually turned out to be ‘Okafor’s Law’. The defendants are Dioni Visions Entertainment, Omoni Oboli and FilmOne distributions.

 In 2015, Raconteur Productions gave FilmOne Ltd a script for the same name for a co-production. Initially, FilmOne agreed to co-produce the movie with Raconteur but FilmOne later withdrew from the agreement. However, Idada raised alarm that it was his script that was turned into the movie, ‘Okafor’s Law’.

 

Idada in an interview last year said he avoided blowing the matter in court not to ‘embarrass’ Nollywood because ‘Okafor’s Law’ was being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

 

Some days to the premiere of the movie on March 31, 2017, Raconteur Productions Ltd had filed an ex parte motion seeking an injunction to stop the movie from being premiered. They won and Oboli and her guests returned to their homes. However, when the case was heard on Thursday, March 30, 2017, counsel for the defendant sought for the injunction to be lifted as tickets had already been sold out. The judge granted the counsel’s prayer and the injunction vacated.

 

Hence, ‘Okafor’s Law’ premiered and is currently running in the cinemas across the country.

That an injunction was granted to Raconteur is proof the judge saw the claimant has a prima facie case even though the court vacated the injunction later to allow the movie to be screened in the cinemas.

 

It was reported that the defendants posited that should the court rule in favour of Raconteur Productions Limited, the damages will have to be paid from the box office earnings of the film. However, given that Oboli and FilmOne are spending money on legal fees, there are fears that excuses could crop up about not having money or enough money to settle should Idada be awarded any monetary compensation of the case.

 

However, speaking in an interview on the matter, Demilade Olaosun, an entertainment lawyer and legal adviser to frontline entertainers such as Reminisce, Niniola, Teju Babyface, Pasuma and others said one cannot conclude that Idada has lost the suit, as the case is still ongoing. He posited that Idada stands to gain if the movie is allowed to run in the cinemas.

 

He said, “The court comes back with a verdict that indeed Omoni Oboli infringed upon his intellectual property rights, the guys that infringed would account to Jude for profit made on all the channels through which the work is distributed.”

 

According to Olaosun, among the reliefs which Idada’s lawyers could seek might include that Idada is ‘named the actual creator’ resulting that whoever breached the intellectual property rights would pay a certain percentage to the person that claimed.

 

“So if at the end of the day, the court finds that Jude Idada owns the story, to the discretion of the court, the court may order some five, ten or twenty percent of profits to the guy, depending on what his lawyer asks for.”

 

While the case is still in court, whichever way it swings, it is a wake-up call for practitioners in Nollywood that Intellectual Property must be taken very seriously.

 

The Nation