Conundrum as Mo Abudu and Tobore Ovuorie slug out Ownership of Oloture – ‘The Movie’

Oloture – The Movie which generated quite a bit of sensation in the last quarter of last year, is garnering new publicity after a former investigative journalist who worked on the story in partnership with Premium Times has dragged EbonyLife to court over defaulting on the right appropriation. 

Tobore Ovuorie, the journalist in question, is demanding a compensation of $5,000,000 for copyright infringement, the inclusion of a proper open and end credit in the said movie. 

The two have taken to social media to narrate their sides of the story, while Tobore maintains that the movie is an adaptation of her true life’s story, Mo Abudu remains adamant that due credit has been given to Premium Times, and in addition, the story had pockets of creative ingenuity infused into it and as such, cannot really be about Tobore’s exact experiences. 

The EbonyLife CEO also maintains that Tobore was well aware of the development of the movie and maintained a close relationship until the movie started walking the corridors of success. 

So far, Premium Times has yet to wade into the story. Considering how Mo Abudu explicitly stated that she got rights to the story from Premium Times, should Tobore Ovuorie not take up her legal tussle with Premium Times, who is currently the legal entity claiming all rights to the story. 

The situation also brings to question how far is too far when Corporate Intellectual Property infringes on a human’s privacy rights. 

Read Tobore’s demands below in addition to the stated sum and Mo Abudu’s rebuttal on Instagram.

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Open Credit: 
“THIS FILM IS LARGELY BASED ON EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED TO A NIGERIAN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST IN A 2014 PUBLISHED INVESTIGATIVE STORY”. 

End Credit: 
“THIS FILM IS AN ADAPTATION OF: 
WEST AFRICA| UNDERCOVER INSIDE THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING MAFIA, AN INVESTIGATIVE STORY BY TOBORE OVUORIE PUBLISHED BY ZAM MAGAZINE, NETHERLANDS, ON 22 JANUARY 2014 AND SUBSEQUENTLY BY PREMIUM TIMES, NIGERIA”.