Broadcasting
MTN Faces N112.5Bn Suit over Use of Comedy Brand
Femi Edwards, a content producer who specializes in the business of events productions, promotions and marketing with particular focus on comedy, has dragged telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria Limited before a Federal High Court in Lagos demanding account of N112.5 billion revenue allegedly generated from the wrongful use of a comedy brand.
According to the suit, the plaintiff is accusing MTN of illegally using his comedy content without recourse to him, and generating whooping revenue from the said copyright infringement.
Edwards, who is trading under the name and style of Mayphem International, recalled that in 2009, he started a platform that promotes the comedy industry called ‘KomicRELOUDED’ which according to him, was a print magazine widely accepted by the industry.
The plaintiff, in the suit with reference number FHC/L/CS/18/18, averred that in the following year, he rebranded to ‘Comedy+’, adding that he had been maintaining the brand ever since with sales outlets across Nigeria.
He said leveraging on the success of the brand ‘Comedy+’, he went into the business of organizing comedy shows and concerts throughout the country, and that over the years, the brand ‘Comedy+’ and ‘ComedyPlus’ have come to be associated with him as signifying publications, comedy shows, entertainment and other events produced, promoted or marketed by him or with his collaboration in both physical and digital platforms, print and electronic media, with substantial reputation by the use of same.
However, the plaintiff said on March 17, 2017, MTN launched a digital platform tagged ‘Comedy+’ where it advertised the intent to and where it has continued to wrongfully produce, promote, market and pass off comedy shows and other entertainment without recourse to him as the copyright owner of the brand.
Edwards said to his surprise, several comedy artists and members of the public had called to congratulate him on the launch of the digital comedy platform of MTN under the belief that he was the person behind it, adding that being a huge commercial enterprise, MTN wrongfully acquired mileage from a popular brand which he created, to launch into the budding comedy sector in Nigeria.
He said the comedy industry had been in its developing stages in Nigeria, and that the brand which he struggled to create, was wrongfully leveraged on by MTN to generate a whooping N112.5billion.
According to him, “The stand-up comedy industry in Nigeria has been in its developing or budding stages and the brand ‘Comedy+’ which the plaintiff has built, has become synonymous with the promotion of comedy and entertainment in general in the country and has a reputation of being one of the pioneer stand-up comedy, general comedy and general entertainment promotion brands in the country that have helped to build the art of stand-up comedy into an industry.
“The defendant has profited from the passing off of the services and the products of the plaintiff in the excess of N112.5billion as presently known to the plaintiff until search, discovery and inspection.”
Giving details of how the figure was arrived at, the plaintiff said his ‘Comedy+’ brand was passed off by MTN to its subscribers which number up to 59 million, while from the defendant’s subscription price list, at the cheapest rate of N250 per month, MTN made N112.5 billion in nine months between March to December 2017 with the number of subscribers limited to 50 million and discounting 9 million.
Dissatisfied with the development, the plaintiff said he wrote to MTN through his lawyer on September 12, 2017 complaining of the passing off of his brand, and that the company replied on September 18, 2017 promising to look into the complaint.
After waiting for some time without response, the plaintiff said he wrote again to the firm, while on October 23, 2017, MTN responded and denied absolutely any liability, but without denying its use of the brand or trade name ‘Comedy+’.
The plaintiff, according to the suit filed on his behalf by Chuks Nwachukwu of Indemnity Partners Law Firm, is therefore seeking an injunction restraining MTN whether by itself, servants, agents or otherwise howsoever from producing, promoting or marketing under the brand name ‘Comedy+’ any comedy related or other entertainment shows or content not produced, promoted or marketed by the plaintiff or with his collaboration.
The plaintiff also wants an injunction mandating MTN to render account of profits and receipts so far made using the brand ‘Comedy+’, as well as damages for the wrongful use of the brand.
Already, the matter has been assigned to Justice Chuka Obiozor who has fixed hearing of an application for interlocutory injunction in the suit against MTN to October 29, 2018.
ARISE News Channel, Africa’s premier broadcaster, has announced its expansion into South Africa and nine other Southern African countries.
The channel is now available on Multichoice/DSTV Channel 416 in South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
With this expansion, ARISE News Channel is now live in 54 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon, Sudan, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire, among others.
Celebrating its 11th anniversary on January 31, ARISE News Channel continues to showcase Africa’s diversity in business, politics, technology, commerce, science, sports, show business, and fashion, while projecting the best of Africa and its cultures globally.
Nduka Obaigbena, chairman and editor-in-chief of ARISE News Channel,, expressed determination to launch the channel in all countries worldwide, stating, “The move to Southern Africa reaffirms ARISE News Channel’s position as the leading broadcaster in Africa with independence and clear thinking. We are determined to celebrate the best of Africa and tell the African story in the global marketplace.”
He added, “We shall continually showcase the emerging African century where Nigeria and other African countries will be some of the leading economies around the world. This is a marathon and not a dash: we will do for Nigeria and Africa what the CNN, the BBCs, and Aljazeeras have done for their nations and regions. In the emerging African AI- driven new information highway, no one will shape your narrative better than you.”
This week, the incredible talents of Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, better known by her stage name, Simi, will be highlighted on African Voices Changemakers, an interview program sponsored by Globacom on Cable News Network (CNN).
Simi began her career initially as a gospel singer. Her debut studio album, “Ogaju”, was released in 2008. After she got a record deal with X3M Music in 2014, she released the album “Tiff,” which was nominated for a 2015 Headies Best Alternative Song award.
Her debut studio album, “Omo Charlie Champagne”, Vol. 1, was released to mark her 31st birthday on April 19, 2019, and her second album, “Simisola”, was also released the same year. She became the CEO of her own label, Studio Brat, which she launched in June 2019.
Simi was one of the judges of the Season 7 of the Nigerian idol TV show in 2022.
Mother of a girl named Dejare, Simi married popular musician, Adekunle Gold in 2019 having graduated from Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State. Some of her works include “Joromi”, “Know You”, “Jericho”, and “Duduke”.
On Saturday at 8.30 a.m., the 30-minute magazine show will air on the global channel. Reruns can be seen on Saturday at noon, Sunday at 4.30 a.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Another rerun will air at 4 a.m. on Monday of the following week, 8.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, and 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.
Some MultiChoice shareholders have expressed relief at the offer by Canal+ to buy Africa’s pay TV giant for $2.9 billion, essentially viewing the potential deal as a vehicle for them to be rescued from an investment that has turned sour.
On April 8,, the deal inched closer to being cemented when the board of MultiChoice agreed to cooperate with Canal+, a sign that it was warming to a tie-up with France’s broadcasting conglomerate.
The board initially rejected the offer by Canal+ to buy the MultiChoice shares that it does not already own for R105 each, saying it was too low and undervalued the company’s growth prospects.
But MultiChoice has been convinced to reconsider its position after Canal+ improved the offer to R125 per share. Canal+ already owns 40.01% of MultiChoice shares on the JSE and wants to pay R35-billion to buy the rest of the company and take control of it.
The next big test is whether MultiChoice shareholders will support or reject Canal+’s offer, which requires support from 90% of shareholders to get the multibillion-rand deal over the line.
Daily Maverick canvassed the views of MultiChoice shareholders and industry players about the merits of the deal and whether they planned to throw their weight behind it when it comes up for a vote in the coming months.
Early indications are that some shareholders view the deal as a blessing and an opportunity to bail out from their investment in MultiChoice.
Before Canal+ made a move on MultiChoice, the latter’s share price had been down by 22% as its operations came under pressure from declining DStv subscriber numbers and intense competition from streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+.
Its earnings have also taken a hit of billions of rands because of the depreciation of African currencies against the US dollar, especially the Nigerian naira.
MultiChoice also had a run-in with regulators; in Nigeria, it ran into problems relating to outstanding tax payments. In South Africa, competitors including the SABC and eMedia (the owner of e.tv) have complained to regulators, accusing MultiChoice of anti-competitive behaviour and using its dominant position to restrict access to its broadcasting platforms and dictating restrictive licensing agreements.
The investment community response
Anthony Sedgwick, the cofounder of Abax Investments, was withering in his assessment of MultiChoice’s investment prospects. “Put frankly, we were relieved to see Canal+ finally step up and bail us out of the position,” he said.
According to MultiChoice’s latest annual report, Abax Investments held 0.34% of its shares. But Abax recently sold those shares, taking advantage of MultiChoice’s 25% share price jump since Canal+ initially tabled its buyout offer in February.
“We think Multichoice is a great business that produces an incredible variety of content, creates opportunities for so many talented people, supports a huge variety of good causes and is a real South African business champion.
“But it operates in unfriendly regulatory countries … and faces some headwinds from hard currency priced content and broadcast costs,” Sedgwick said.
Asief Mohamed, the chief investment officer of Aeon Investment Management, shared Sedgwick’s concerns about MultiChoice.
“My guess is that the other shareholders will likely accept the R125 offer. Governance has for a long time been a concern of some shareholders, including ourselves,” Mohamed told Daily Maverick.
MultiChoice’s latest annual report puts Aeon’s shareholding in it at 0.43%.
Merits of the deal
Canal+ has argued that the aim of buying MultiChoice would be to combine both businesses to create an entertainment giant that can survive a market facing intense competition and declining advertising revenue.
A combined Canal+ and MultiChoice will boast media businesses in many African countries, from South Africa and Nigeria to Senegal and Cameroon.
Not all investors are pessimistic about MultiChoice, its business fundamentals and investment prospects. In fact, when MultiChoice ran into tax troubles in Nigeria in July 2021, which precipitated a steep decline in its share price (to a low of R115), Argon Asset Management saw it as a buying opportunity. It bought MultiChoice shares and has since maintained its holding in the company to about 0.41%.
Asked why Argon remained bullish about MultiChoice, the asset management firm’s equity analyst, Richard Court, said: “Simplistically, there are two parts to MCG [MultiChoice Group]. There is the mature South African business, which, for the most part, was highly profitable and cash-generative.
“Then there is the business that MCG is building in the rest of Africa, which was actually a drag on profitability, and it was still quite small in the life of MCG from a bottom-line perspective. Nigeria takes up a lot of the bandwidth.
“We think the market was overly pessimistic on the prospects of the rest-of-Africa segment. We thought the market was overreacting to the possibility of a tax penalty coming out of Nigeria. The share price fell back and we just took the buying opportunity. We thought that MCG share was worth more than the levels at the time.”
Court said MultiChoice had managed to defend its premium TV segment (consumers who subscribe to DSTV premium packages) despite the arrival of international streaming services in South Africa.
“It did quite well in the lower segment and in the lower-cost offerings by growing subscriptions in those markets. Management was doing the right thing strategically and executing quite well on that strategy,” he said.
MultiChoice’s investments into Showmax strengthened its defence position, he said.
Argon’s house view is that Canal+’s R125 offer undervalues MultiChoice and its growth prospects.
“At the moment, we are unlikely to accept at R125. In a few years from now, if they’re able to build Showmax and if Nigeria stabilises, which we can’t say when, then I think the outlook for MCG is going to be a lot rosier than what it is now. I think the market would recognise that and that should reflect in the share price,” Court said. He was unwilling to comment on what he thought would be a fair offer from Canal+.
Canal+ said the media industry in which MultiChoice was operating “is becoming increasingly globalised and competitive, with regional media companies having to compete with the firepower of global media titans, with enormous resources to invest in content, marketing and technology…”
With a customer base of 22 million, MultiChoice’s growth strategy involves investing in local and international content for its streaming service, Showmax, and Canal+ is likely to provide capital to fund the growth.
Peter Takaendesa, the head of equities at Mergence Investment Managers, has argued that only companies with scale and a strong balance sheet are likely to survive changes in the entertainment industry.
“Canal+ and MultiChoice can leverage content and financial strength. However, there is still no guarantee of success, as the fight against global streaming giants is intense.”
Other large MultiChoice shareholders are yet to opine on the deal. They include the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which holds 13%, M&G Investments (more than 7%) and Allan Gray (6%). Allan Gray declined to comment to Daily Maverick, and M&G and the PIC were not available to do so.
Another MultiChoice shareholder that is not ready to express its view on the Canal+ deal is Sanlam Investments, which has a 1.9% interest in the broadcasting company. Sanlam said it opted not to express its stance or intentions “considering the sensitive nature of ongoing negotiations” pertaining to the deal.
“While we understand the importance of transparency and accountability, we believe it is essential to maintain confidentiality and prudence when dealing with such matters,” Sanlam said.
The MultiChoice-Canal+ deal is likely to take two years to be completed, as it still requires regulatory approval.
Credit: Daily Maverick
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