Rex Omar wins case against Joy Dadi Bitters
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A Koforidua High Court has granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Joy Industries Limited from using any part of Rex Omar’s song ‘Da Da Di Da’ to promote or advertise its product, Joy Dadi Bitters.
The court also ordered that the company’s directors, officers, agents and servants should immediately stop any electronic media from playing their commercial with any part of Rex Omar’s work pending the final determination of a copyrights action filed against the company by the musician.
The court asked the company to pay Rex Omar GH¢1,000 as costs for filing the application.
Rex Omar sued Joy Industries Limited on June 15, 2015 for using his song to advertise their product without his authorisation, saying it thus infringes on his copyrights.
Rex Omar also applied for an interlocutory injunction against the company to restrain it from continuing to advertise its product with his song.
However, Joy Industries, represented by Francis E. Polley, entered appearance and opposed the application.
In moving the application for injunction, Rex Omar’s lawyer, Ms Golda Denyo, argued that Joy Industries Limited has infringed on Rex Omar’s economic and moral rights by using the song without his permission.
In opposing the application, Mr Polley argued that the company had spent a lot of money on the advertisement and that damages would be an adequate compensation to Rex Omar.
Meanwhile, the court on Friday, November 27 upheld the interlocutory injunction sought by Rex Omar.
The judge, Justice Barbara Ward Acquah, said Rex Omar’s application and claims raises serious issues for trial by the court.
She also said that the moral rights are real and can be protected, adding that the moral rights cannot be put on a scale in comparison with money.
Per the ruling, all electronic advertisements of Joy Dadi Bitters which have Rex Omar’s song are to seize with immediate effect.
ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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