The absence of Justice Inyang Ekwo on Thursday halted the trial of the Managing Director of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Mr. Karl Toriola, and others for alleged copyright infringement at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The trial was postponed until September 26 so that the defendants can present their defense.
Other defendants in the indictment are MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, MTN Senior Executive Officer, Nkeakam Abhulimen, telecommunications service provider, Fun Mobile Limited, and Yahaya Maibe.
The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) on May 14 accused Toriola of evading court documents in his arraignment.
Justice Ekwo has adjourned the case until Thursday (today) to give the prosecutor time to present the court papers to the MTN CEO.
READ ALSO: N1.4tn fine: MTN CEO resigns
However, the case listed at number one on the case list was stopped today due to the absence of the judge.
A musician, Maleke Moye, who is the nominal plaintiff in the lawsuit, has raised concerns over alleged plans by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to take over the case.
He said the minister’s directive to the NCC to hand over the case and forward the file to his office was a sign of a dangerous precedent that was about to be set.
In a three-count indictment filed March 20, the commission alleged that the defendants between 2010 and 2017 offered for “sale, sale and trafficking for business, infringing Moye’s musical works without his consent.”
The NCC added that the defendants used Moye’s musical works and voice recordings with valid copyrights known as “caller ring back tunes” without permission from the artist.
Absent Judge Halts MTN Nigeria CEO’s Copyright Infringement Trial Posted first on Latest Nigeria News | Top News from Ripples Nigeria.
