Nollywood Actor, Ini Edo Loses ‘Shanty Town’ Ownership Legal Battle

Nollywood actress, Ini Edo, has lost the ownership rights of the 2023 hit Netflix series, ‘Shanty Town’ to Nigerian filmmaker, Chinenye Nworah.

Naija News recalls Ini and her production company, Minini Empire Productions Limited, MEP, had, in January 2024, filed a double intellectual property petition against Chinenye Nworah and her production company ‘Giant Creative Media Limited’, GCM, over trademark rights of the series, ‘Shanty Town’.

In the petition, the actress sought to claim ownership of the trademarks and copyrights linked with ‘Shanty Town.

However, Chinenye’s lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), in a statement on Friday, disclosed that the Nigerian Trademark Registry (NTR) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), responsible for trademarks and copyright regulation, respectively, have dismissed actress Ini Edo’s petition over the ownership of the hit Netflix series, ‘Shanty Town’ and ruled in favour of Chinenye.

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 January 10, 2024, declaring the petition baseless and without merit, and confirming Nworah’s exclusive ownership of these trademarks.

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).

Olisa Agbakoba’s legal team said, “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.”