A lot hasn’t been heard of talented R ‘n’ B artiste in the past years, however that is set to change as Paul Play seems to be courting the limelight again with his law suit against giant telecoms company Etisalat.
The angel of my life crooner is suing the company for a whooping N200m for using his song, Mosorire in their popular reality series, Nigerian Idol, without seeking his consent. Going into the details of his suit against the company, the musician stated that Etisalat used his song,Mosorire, composed and performed by, to promote their TV show, Nigerian Idol in the year 2012 and 2013.
According to the court papers, Paul stated that contestants performed his work on the tv show without his approval:
“I am the copyright owner of the work named and tagged “Mosorire”, contained in my repertoire, exclusively for the jurisdiction of Nigeria and the authority or permission to exploit such work can only be obtained from me. However, the defendants being an organizer of a television reality show tagged, “Nigerian Idol” caused the use, adaptation and deployment of my said work titled, “Mosorire” on the said show without my consent, and which was broadcast to several millions of television viewers throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the rest of Africa for 2012 and 2013 editions.”
He went ahead to say that he was entitled to an annual fee which would have amounted to 100million, however they went ahead to make use of the material without permission, hence the duo of Etisalat and Optima media group made him lose money whilst making gains for themselves and improving their brand image.
As of now a date hasn’t been fixed for the hearing.
A lot of Paul’s fans have been dying to have him back on the music scene, but most certainly not this way.