Ini Edo Loses Legal Battle Over Ownership Of ‘Shanty Town’

The Nigerian Trademark Registry (NTR) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), responsible for trademarks and copyright regulation, have respectively dismissed actress Ini Edo’s petition over the ownership of the hit Netflix series, ‘Shanty Town’ and ruled in Chichi Nworah’s favour.

Recall that actress Ini Edo and Ms Chinenye Nworah, a filmmaker, have

been locked in a legal battle over the ownership rights of the hit Netflix series “Shanty Town’ released in January 2023.

LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that the battle over the ownership  of the hit series started when actress Ini Edo and her production company, Minini Empire Productions Limited (MEP), sought ownership of both the trademarks “Shanty Town” and “Scar,” as well as the copyrights associated with the series.

The Trademark Registry rejected the petition filed by Ini Edo , and MEP regarding trademarks ‘SCAR’ NG/TM/O/2023/121745 and ‘SHANTY TOWN’

NG/TM/O/2023/97482 on January 10, 2024, declaring the petition baseless and without merit, thus,  giving the sole ownership  of the trademarks to Ms Nworah’exclusive.

Both NCC and NTR,  in their separate rulings delivered on July 24, 2024,  dismissed the petition filed  by Ini Edo and MEP concerning the cancellation of two copyright certificates issued to Chinenye Nworah for the literary work “Shanty Town”  with Certificate Number LW10177 and the audiovisual work “Shanty Town” with Certificate Number CF1448.

The ruling reads this; “The NCC found no legal grounds for the cancellation and upheld the validity of the certificates, confirming Mrs Nworah’s rightful ownership of these copyrights.

“This case demonstrates OAL’s commitment to protecting the rights of creative individuals and companies in the face of intellectual property disputes,” Olisa Agbakoba Legal team noted.