Ini Edo Loses Ownership Rights To Netflix’s ‘Shanty Town’ To Filmmaker Chinenye Nworah

Ini Edo and 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 popular Netflix series, Shanty Town.

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

However, in a huge legal victory for Nworah and GCM, her production company, the Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC and the Nigerian Trademark Registry ruled against Ini Edo, calling the petition frivolous and without substance.

In a separate ruling issued, the NCC denied petition by Ini Edo and MEP for the cancellation of two copyright certificates issued to Nworah for the literary work “Shanty Town” (Certificate Number LW10177) and the audiovisual work “Shanty Town” (Certificate Number CF1448).

”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,” Olisa Agbakoba Legal team noted.