[2024]DLHC18415 • March 5, 2024 • High Court
DARLINGTON DESMOND OKUNOR vs. MULTIMEDIA GROUP LIMITED (TRADING AS ASEMPA FM)
The Plaintiff, a YouTuber operating a sports channel 'Foooty Clan TV', created and published an audiovisual work featuring interviews with football fans after the Ghana vs. Brazil match. The Defendant, a media company operating Asempa FM, broadcasted the audio portion of the Plaintiff's work on their 'Ultimate Sports Show' without authorization, credit, or consent, and claimed ownership during the broadcast. The Plaintiff alleged copyright infringement and sought damages and injunctive relief.
read moreJUDGMENT On 15th November 2022, the Plaintiff filed a Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim against the Defendant praying for the following reliefs: a. A declaration that the Defendant has conducted acts that amount to an infringement of the Plaintiff’s copyright in respect of Plaintiff’s work. b. General damages of Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS2,500,000.00) against the Defendant and in favour of the Plaintiff. c. Costs of action including solicitor’s fees. The Defendant entered appearance through its solicitors on 13th December 2022 and filed their Statement of Defence on 13th January 2023. At the close of pleadings, the parties went through pre-trial conference but failed to settle the matter. PLAINTIFF’S CASE Plaintiff is a YouTuber who creates and uploads videos on the YouTube online video sharing service. Plaintiff avers that he runs a sports channel called ‘Foooty Clan TV’ (FCTV) where he publishes videos of sports related developments with 63...