CHARLES NOVIA SUES VIASAT ONE GHANA

Foremost Nollywood Film Producer and popular critic, Charles Novia is suing a top cable channel in Ghana, Viasat One, for one million dollars for copyright infringement. Viasat One is accused of broadcasting ‘Atlanta’ a 26 episode comedy series on polygamy, illegally on their channel with no documented permission or contract from November Productions, Novia’s company.
According to a statement by Charles Novia, ‘I was surprised when a friend called me from Ghana to praise the production values of the episode being shown. Upon enquiry as to where he watched the episode, knowing that it finished its territorial run on Nigerian terrestrial television a few months ago, I was told it has been showing on Viasat One since late 2012! Shocked, I got the company’s contact details and called their line. I was politely rebuffed even when I identified myself as the genuine Producer and copyright owner of the series being broadcast illegally. I was told that a so-called ‘agent’ gave them the series which they acquired. They refused to tell me more than that and stopped short of telling me to go to hell.
Being a strong advocate of anti-piracy laws in Nigeria and Africa as well as a copyright rights activist, this is a clear case of an abuse of my intellectual copyright by a major African company and I will not take it lying low. My lawyers have been briefed and are instituting a criminal case of copyright infringement in a few hours against the company. All the relevant copyright and legal organisations in Nigeria and Ghana have been sent letters informing them of this anomaly