NCC files suit against MTN, Karl Toriola, others over alleged copyright infringement

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has filed criminal charges against telecommunications company MTN Nigeria, and Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, and threes other individuals,  for allegedly infringing on the intellectual property rights of Nigerian musician Maleke Idowu Moye. 

The four individuals named in the case with charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024 filed in the Federal High Court,Abuja Division, include ;Karl Toriola, the MTN chief executive, Nkeakam Abhulimen, director of media and entertainment at MTN Nigeria; Fun Mobile Ltd., a technology company that specializes in mobile app development; and Yahaya Maibe, a mobile app developer. 

In the three-count charge brought against the defendants, the NCC alleged that between 2010 and 2017, they “offered for sale, sold, and traded for business purposes” infringing copies of the musical works of Maleke Idowu Moye, without his consent or authorisation. The charge also alleged that the defendants reproduced and distributed the works without permission, thereby violating the Copyright Act of Nigeria.

The NCC claims that the defendants have been using the musical works and sound recordings of Maleke, including the songs “911”, “Minimini-wanawana”, “Stop racism”, “Ewole”, “911 instrumental”, “Radio”, “Low waist”, and “No bother”, as Caller Ring Back Tunes without the artist’s permission. 

The defendants are also accused of having distributed the musical works of Maleke to their subscribers, without the artist’s permission, thus violating his rights. The NCC further alleged that the defendants were in possession of the works in question, not for their own personal or domestic use, but rather for commercial purposes.

The NCC stated that the alleged violations are in violation of and subject to penalties under section 20 (2) (a) (b) and (c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the case has not yet been assigned to a judge, and a date for the case to be heard has not been set.