From left: Tanzanian celebrated athletes Alphonce Simbu, Failuni Abdi Mataga and Gabriel Geay. PHOTO | FILE
Summary
Dar es Salaam. A court has ordered television services provider MultiChoice (T) Limited to pay Tanzanian celebrated athletes Alphonce Simbu, Failuni Abdi Mataga and Gabriel Geay Sh150 million each for using their images without their consent.
MultiChoice has also been ordered to pay the athletes a 10 percent annual interest from the date the case was filed to the date of judgment.
It will also pay another 10 percent interest on the amount from the date of judgment to the date of final payment of the ruling.
“The defendant (MultiChoice) in this case did actually use the plaintiffs’ images without their express authorisation and in doing so, the defendant generated profit at the expense of these plaintiffs,” said Senior Resident Magistrate B. Mwakisu.
The internationally recognised athletes brought a suit against MultiChoice (T) Limited mid last year accusing the company of using their images for commercial gain without their consent.
They argued that their photos were important assets to them and any intrusion would violate their intellectual property rights.
The pictures were alleged to have been published through various channels including billboards throughout the country and MultiChoice’s official Instagram and Twitter.
This started after the plaintiffs qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, which were re-scheduled to 2021 due to the prevalence of Covid-19.
As they prepared for the competition, the athletes claimed they noticed sometime in July of last year, that MultiChoice used their images in commercial adverts sentitising the general public to subscribe to the their service in order to view the athletes participate in the Olympic Games.
Giving evidence, Mr Simbu told the court that he lost a very promising contract as the brand ambassador of Azam Media Group who withdrew their offer following MultiChoice’s improper use of the images.
“I have been training since 2015 in my home village of Sindida. I trained in hot, cold, dry and wet weather. It has taken me this long to build my reputation and brand image. How then can anyone try to benefit from me without my permission,” he complained.
In defence, MultiChoice’s Head of Regulatory and Compliance, Astrid Mapunda, vehemently disputed the allegation that his company used the plaintiffs’ pictures for economic gain.
He told the court that their actions were a response to a call from the Ministry of Sports urging them to promote Tanzania’s Olympic participants.
He further claimed that this was a common practice with other sports. MultiChoice usually publishes news on their official social media pages, television and newspaper outlets.
He had nothing to prove that they had rights over the athletes’ images when cross-examined.
No comments :
Post a Comment