Ini Edo Loses Ownership Rights to Netflix’s ‘Shanty Town’ To Chinenye Nworah

The Nigerian Trademark Registry (NTR) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) have ruled against actress Ini Edo’s claim over the Netflix series ‘Shanty Town’ and decided in favor of filmmaker Chinenye Nworah.

Ini Edo and Chinenye Nworah have been in a legal dispute over the ownership rights of ‘Shanty Town,’ a popular Netflix series released in January 2023.

The dispute arose just as the second season of the series was about to be released. The show was a hit, with Ini Edo listed as an executive producer and Chinenye Nworah as both executive producer and producer.

Nworah’s legal team, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), announced on Thursday that the NTR and NCC confirmed Nworah and her company, Giant Creative Media Limited (GCM), own the trademarks and copyrights of ‘Shanty Town.’

The statement highlighted that both agencies dismissed Ini Edo’s petitions as baseless and and without merit.

Specifically, the NTR ruled that trademarks for ‘Shanty Town’ and ‘Scar’ belong to Giant Creative Media, rejecting Ini Edo’s petition.

The NCC also rejected Edo’s attempt to revoke Nworah’s copyright certificates for the literary and audiovisual works related to ‘Shanty Town.’

The statement partly read: “In a significant legal victory for filmmaker Chinenye Nworah and her production company GCM Giant Creative Media Limited, both the Nigerian Trademark Registry and the Nigerian Copyright Commission have ruled in their favour.

“This follows a series of legal battles initiated by Ms Iniobong Edo Ekim (Ini Edo) and Minnie Empire Productions Limited (MEP), who attempted to claim ownership of the trademarks and copyrights associated with ‘Shanty Town’.

“Trademark Dispute: ‘Shanty Town’ and ‘Scar’ belong to Giant Creative Media. The Trademark Registry rejected a petition filed by Ini Edo and MEP regarding trademarks ‘Scar’ NG/TM/O/2023/121745 and ‘Shanty Town’ NG/TM/O/2023/97482 on 10 January 2024, declaring the petition baseless and without merit and confirming Mrs Nworah’s exclusive ownership of these trademarks.”

Ms Nworah’s legal team stated that the NCC rejected Edo and MEP’s petition to revoke the copyright certificates for her client’s literary and audiovisual works related to ‘Shanty Town’.

“In a separate ruling delivered on July 24, 2024, the NCC dismissed a petition by Ini Edo and MEP concerning the cancellation of two copyright certificates issued to Chinenye Nworah for the literary work ‘Shanty Town’ (Certificate Number LW10177) and the audiovisual work ‘Shanty Town’ (Certificate Number CF1448),” it reads.

The statement added that 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.

OAL emphasized that these rulings reinforce the importance of protecting creative works and ensuring fair compensation for artists.

They stated that this case demonstrates their commitment to defending the rights of creative individuals and businesses in intellectual property disputes.

KanyiDaily recalls that Ini Edo recently recounted how she once confronted a magazine publisher whose medium kept writing and publishing wrong news about her.