Tribunal rules in favour of Zeb Ejiro over 'Domitilla' copyright issue

Annie Njemanze's registration and application of 'Domitilla' as a trademark have been cancelled by the Trademark Tribunal in Abuja.

The ruling, which was delivered by Chief Registrar Shafiu Adamu Yauri, stated that all documents issued to her were done in error.

This legal dispute arose from a disagreement over the ownership of the brand Domitilla between veteran filmmaker Zeb Ejiro and actress Anne Njemanze.

The movie, which featured veteran actresses such as Sandra Achums, Ada Ameh, and Kate Henshaw, tells the story of a young woman struggling to survive as a Lagos prostitute.

Njemanze reportedly trademarked the name Domitilla and Device in September 2020, years after the release of Domitilla and its sequel. Ejiro's team of lawyers challenged the registration, stating that the brand had been in use since 1996 and fell under class 41 of the Register of Trademarks in Nigeria.

They also argued that Njemanze knew of Ejiro's prior and continuous use of the name since 1996, as she had acted in both Domitilla and Domitilla 2 and was paid for her work.

The court ruled, "The Petitioner owns the statutorily protected copyright of the film scripts of Domitilla and Domitilla 2, which were handed to the applicant in the course of her engagement as an actress in 1996 and 1999 respectively.

"Since the respective release of the films in 1996 and 1999, the films have continuously been in the market, first in video Cassettes; later in Compact Discs and now majorly as internet downloads all under the proprietary name of the Petitioner.

"The applicant has no goodwill and reputation in the word, “Domitilla”, separate from her role in the films Domitilla and Domitilla 2, which are intellectual properties of the Petitioner.

"The Petitioner has continuously used Domitilla as a created film character and as the title of his films, “Domitilla” and “Domitilla 2” since 1996 till date, thereby building strong goodwill and widespread reputation in the word."

The reboot of the film is currently screening in cinemas nationwide.