Stella Dimoko Korkus.com: TV Mogul Mo Abudu Reacts To Copyright Infringement Allegations On Movie 'Oloture'...

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Tuesday, January 12, 2021

TV Mogul Mo Abudu Reacts To Copyright Infringement Allegations On Movie 'Oloture'...

Mo Abudu, Ebonylife CEO has reacted to accusations of copyright infringement by one Tobore Ovourie, over movie ‘Oloture’.








Tobore Ovuorie sometime last week accused Mo Abudu and the film’s producers of adapting her 2014 investigative report without getting her explicit permission.

Mo posted a video on Instagram and have her own side of the story .She said EbonyLife paid Premium times for the movie and also offered Tobore 5% out of cinema money for her contribution as a writer.

She said: “Premium times said she cannot lay claim to the project, only Sam chronicles can claim copyright to the report, we do not take kindly to those saying otherwise.

“We dare not make a film without addressing rights and paying for them.

“In May 2019, we reached out to Tobore and granted her a private screening and offered her 5% of our cinema rights to go to her NGO . ‘Oloture’ was an important movie but due to COVID-19 we could not release it.

“A day after Oloture was released on Netflix in October 2020, Tobore sent us a message and made accusations making demands and threatening us.”

She stressed that her relationship with Tobore suddenly changed after the release of Oloture and its success on Netflix.

“A month after Oloture was launched we got a letter from her lawyer demanding a whooping sum of N2.5bn which is not what we signed up for.
We knew we did not infringe on her rights, we settled all that before the movie. Her demands have become threatening, blackmailing .

“My relationship with Tobore immediately changed after the growing popularity of Oloture on Netflix.
Let me state for the record ‘Oloture’ is a story inspired by true events involving situations created by script writers , several parts of the films were created however some parts were similar to Tobore’s life which is why she and premium times were given credits,” she added.

“Tobore’s experience is what most ladies experience due to trafficking worldwide. I stand for integrity, we did not exploit Tobore and would not be intimidated but fight in court if necessary,” she concluded.

from dailypost




*The Tobore babe made a big mistake...She should have done some research and gotten a Lawyer before agreeing to the deal she was offered...She cannot change it because even in court,it is binding...Unless she did not sign anything....
The movie is a success and some people may have influenced her change of mind...Hmmmmm..

30 comments:

  1. Stella, If she is speaking her truth, why did she disabled her comments button? She is a Goliath fighting the little David and God doesn’t like ugly. She reaps and enriches herself with other people’s sweat. Anyone that thinks otherwise should ask Kemi Adetiba the brilliant filmmaker that directed Ebony film Wedding Party that Stella, If she is speaking her truth, why did she disable her comments button? She is a Goliath fighting the little David with her connections and God doesn’t like ugly. No is a phony and she reaps and enriches herself with other people’s sweat. Anyone that thinks otherwise should ask Kemi Adetiba the brilliant filmmaker that directed Ebony film Wedding Party that severed relationship with her. No is nothing but a phony one that is being rewarded for mediocrity severed relationship with her. Mo is nothing but a phony one that is being rewarded for mediocrity

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is called business. You have to respect an agreement no matter how unfair it is. Like Stella said, the lady should have negotiated properly. Royalties plus the initial payment would have been a better idea given the success of the movie.

      Delete
  2. Stella, If she is speaking her truth, why did she disabled her comments button? She is a Goliath fighting the little David and God doesn’t like ugly. She reaps and enriches herself with other people’s sweat. Anyone that thinks otherwise should ask Kemi Adetiba the brilliant filmmaker that directed Ebony film Wedding Party that Stella, If she is speaking her truth, why did she disable her comments button? She is a Goliath fighting the little David with her connections and God doesn’t like ugly. No is a phony and she reaps and enriches herself with other people’s sweat. Anyone that thinks otherwise should ask Kemi Adetiba the brilliant filmmaker that directed Ebony film Wedding Party that severed relationship with her. No is nothing but a phony one that is being rewarded for mediocrity severed relationship with her. Mo is nothing but a phony one that is being rewarded for mediocrity

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  3. Stella, If she is speaking her truth, why did she disabled her comments button? She is a Goliath fighting the little David and God doesn’t like ugly. She reaps and enriches herself with other people’s sweat. Anyone that thinks otherwise should ask Kemi Adetiba the brilliant filmmaker that directed Ebony film Wedding Party that Stella, If she is speaking her truth, why did she disable her comments button? She is a Goliath fighting the little David with her connections and God doesn’t like ugly. No is a phony and she reaps and enriches herself with other people’s sweat. Anyone that thinks otherwise should ask Kemi Adetiba the brilliant filmmaker that directed Ebony film Wedding Party that severed relationship with her. No is nothing but a phony one that is being rewarded for mediocrity severed relationship with her. Mo is nothing but a phony one that is being rewarded for mediocrity

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    1. Now this is a personal issue.

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  4. I'm guessing the Tobore went to the negotiating table without a lawyer, that will explain why she is pained now.
    Anyway, she should manage it or rather calm down and renegotiate since it was only for cinema they agreed on the 5%.

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  5. Let's hear from the other lady first before judging.

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  6. Let’s hear from Tobere because she is an intelligent girl and I don’t think she would have accepted such. 5% only?? That movie is the story of Toberes experiences. I followed her story years ago when she did that dangerous research and she even won awards. Down to even the phrases used like sforza speciale were from tobere. Anyway waiting to hear her own side

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    1. Rest abeg
      Abi na you be the Tobore?

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  7. See wahala o.
    Well if she didn't sign anything she can go ahead and fight and win.

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  8. Always read contracts before going into business. Madam Mo has been swimming this entertainment industry sincee, the woman is a Shark so if you want to do business with anyone, forget the wine and dine, forget the we have an understanding, get yourself a good lawyer,read every word,cross the bloody t's and dot the i's then sign.

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  9. May God be the judge.

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  10. MO should keep fronting for politicians and continue benefiting from little people! Judgement day is coming for her. Since she post her texts. She might as well tell people how much she gave the poor girl from all the millions she got from Netflix? The lady should take it up also with Netflix. They don’t play game like we do in this part of the world. Shame on you, Mo!!!

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  11. All I want to know is if this Tobere was actually raped and beaten like it shows in the movie. If she did I'm shocked😱....why put yourself in such situations? Hmmmmm...she is a strong lady but she should have hired a lawyer and wrote down the terms and conditions that would have benefited her.

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  12. Stella please dont let this Mo Abudu woman fool you! She is a real intellectual property thief and it wont be the first time she is doing such. Many of the talent and reality shows shown on her dstv channel back then were taken by her and credit not given. She is even known to do same to her employees also and not credit them properly especially if she is no longer on good terms with them. I know 2 that left and that it happened to.

    She is as vile as they come and little wonder her channel is dead and gone. Now she is focusing on ebonylife place and making people believe she is legit.

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  13. Mo who was the bad lawyer that advised you in May 2019? With all your money you cant do the right thing? Not surprised though, Mo has always had an exploitative nature and all her ex employees and even current ones can testify to that

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  14. We Nigerians are so emotional!! Our judgements and decisions are based on emotions. Did Ebony life/Mo Abudu do anything wrong legally? No!!! So what is the issue here? That's how that journalist wanted to commit suicide just because someone else was getting awards.

    You made a choice, signed legally binding documents, now you see success and you claim people are cheating you. I sincerely don't understand how we think and why we reason this way.

    You get into an organization that says you must work on Saturdays, after working for 2 Saturdays, you claim it is unfair. Didn't you sign a contract/employment letter??? Abeg I don tire

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    1. Sweet Aproko, think of it this way; why couldn't Auntie Mo discussed with the lady when the movie couldn't be aired in the cenima and she decided to take it to Netflix instead? Shouldn't the person whose story it is be told plans have changed? COVID is no fault of any of them involved so shouldn't the right thing be done?
      If the story is like both of them narrated it, then it is wrong on the part of Ebony life both legally and morally. Let's give it to Auntie Mo, she has an incredible personality but in this case, she should do the right thing. It's not too late to call the lady to renegotiate and if that should be done, the lady shouldn't be greedy either.

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    2. I listened to her broadcast and she stated that despite it not going to the cinemas, the intended sum was still due to Tobore. You may want to visit her page to listen to the broadcast.

      What I am against is this entitlement mentality and making decisions based on emotions. They signed a contract, nobody foresaw covid. If you bought shares (N1,000) in the aviation industry pre-covid and covid came, and your shares dropped to (N100), will you ask that the 'aviation industry' to return your N900 which was lost?

      The truth is this, we need to understand contractual terms and also understand that unforeseen market forces can reduce or increase the value of your investment. Dangote lost $900M in a day, Elon Musk gained much more in a day.

      What is needed before going into any form of contract/agreement is that you need to factor in such unforeseen circumstances and introduce clauses into such agreements that will favour you. People have pre-nuptial agreements for same reason - so you wont wake up and say after being married to you for 5 years and sleeping with me at will, you want to give me only N2M out of your wealth or you want to take 100% of your partner's wealth after a divorce.

      I detest emotional decisions. At all times, never make decisions with your heart but your brain.

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    3. In addition, Tobore herself could have entered into an agreement with Mo Abudu based on emotions. She might have assumed she could not demand for more from her because of the personal relationship they share.

      Even in my home, I never mix business with pleasure

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    4. Aproko, abeg, let me comment under you because it seems people don't even understand what copyright entails. You cannot copyright an idea. Mo Abudu was considering the Nigerian factor and that was why she offered Tobore money. Otherwise, when you hear a story and get an idea to write a screenplay, you are NOT required to get the person in the news's permission to write the screenplay. News is also considered public property because it is for the public. If it was a piece people paid to access, then we can say her income was affected. Can she prove she is the only one this happened to? Can she prove that every single thing that happened in the movie happened to her the way the movie portrayed? This is why movie makers include a disclaimer that their work is fictional. If they wanted to make the movie on her, the proper thing would have been to work with her throughout production - writing to editing -and then have her for the publicity. This is the standard practice because you are honoring the person. I'm sure you have all seen how involved people whose stories are made into films are in the process (Obama's Becoming documentary, Hotel Rwanda, Catch Me if You Can). Sometimes they even write the screenplay and/or appear in the movies (like Stan Lee did in virtually every Marvel movie). Abudu probably figured people would come after her because parts resembled what they read in the news about/ it reminded them of Tobore and wanted to close that hole. But in my legal opinion, Tobore had no right to any profit from the movie, considering it was not wholly based on her. Yes, parts were based on her story. But you came to the table and agreed to them using the material. Public material, by the way. If Tobore goes to court, she has to claim the entire movie is about her life. Every single detail must match. But can she prove at this point that her testimony will be original after watching the movie? Plus, would she have wanted more if the movie had not made money? As to the location change, Abudu does not owe Tobore any obligation concerning how she distributes and markets her product. After all, she financed the movie, not Tobore. Did Tobore pay any money towards the production? The issue is that Netflix picked it up and she realized 5% was too small. Did she lose the 5% because Netflix showed it? Netflix is the new age cinema and even Hollywood is reconsidering its requirement that movies must be shown in theatres to qualify for the Oscars. COVID-19 made Netflix's style a reality and several movie companies are adapting to the change. As Aproko said, this is business. This mudslinging will probably cost Tobore a defamation suit if she is not careful.

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  15. Yes, we all agree that Mo is a shark, but Tobore made a huge error, when Mo gave her the offer, she should have had an entertainment lawyer look at the contract and negotiate better terms. She did not do her homework. I feel really bad for her, but unfortunately Mo took advantage of her inexperience in the movie industry and cashed out on her story. So sad.

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    1. exactly, it is the fact that she took advantage of the poor vulnerable girl that really irks some of us. She is always in the news for this sort of thing and I am thinking, at what point does the compassionate human angle come in?

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    2. Truth be told, Mo's adviser or lawyer should have immediately considered all the other angles the moment she decided to take on this project in 2019. The morality aspect and also even the simple personal human aspect considering the nature of the film in question. Also, if you are an experienced adviser/lawyer, you should also ensure the agreement covers aspects like what happens in the case of the movie not being able to go to cinemas. Some of these things go beyond mere legal and technicalities. Even from the video, you can see she has no compassion for the lady, all the forming caring and all that, was clearly just fake. Someone goes through such an ordeal and you think it fit to mention that oh its nothing because many other girls go through it. Mo please do better.

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  16. Proudly feminist12 January 2021 at 22:55

    People make these deals but when the movies hit big, they always do better, even overseas. That rich lady shluld do better and pay more for peace sake. Dr dre wife signed prenuptial and now fighting for more money after divorce, please when they are successful, they can stop being greedy and do settle amicably.

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  17. This woman mo abudu clearly had a whack lawyer when she decided to adapt it for a film in 2019.

    S9(3) of the Nigerian Copyright Act 2004 CLEARLY states that even if the newspaper (premium times) owned the work of the employee (tobore), BUT if its for any other purpose outside of the newspaper or relating to the publication of the newspaper, then the employee (tobore) is the first owner!!

    I just have to ask again, Mo Abudu whoooo was the whack lawyer that advised you? I hope Tobore gets justice.

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  18. It's okay to say it's business until it happens to you.
    Just know there are people who would look for every avenue to hoodwink you.

    ReplyDelete

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