Actress Ini Edo Loses Movie ‘Shanty Town’ Ownership Legal Battle To Filmmaker Chinenye Nworah

Nollywood actress, Ini Edo, has lost the ownership rights of the hit Netflix series ‘Shanty Town’ to filmmaker, Chinenye Nworah.

The Nigerian Trademark Registry (NTR) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), responsible for trademarks and copyright regulation, respectively, have dismissed actress Ini Edo’s petition over the ownership of the hit Netflix series, ‘Shanty Town’ and ruled in filmmaker, Chinenye Nworah’s favour.

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.