Eric Many Records sues singer for N267m

This is the third time in 2-years that the record label is filing an injunction against the singer.

In March 2018, after filing a case in court, the record label issued a statement to Pulse saying "Runtown has been deliberately breaching his contract with us (Eric Many) for a while and despite our many appeals to him he has refused to bulge. He went for a show in Las Vegas since January 13th, 2018 and has since decided to withdraw all obligations of his contract. He has steadily been recording an album without the consent and approval of his record label.

"he's recording with artists like Del'B without the written approval of the label and without an Eric Many appointee at the point of recording as agreed in our contract. Runtown has also been appearing in venues and collecting appearance fees without the approval of the label and also performing in private shows without the label's consent which contravenes clause 4.4.1 of his record deal which states that 'the Defendant(Runtown) can only engage in recording, collaborating or performing with other artistes for third parties or other record companies upon proper notification in advance to the Plaintiff. Upon this notification, the Plaintiff would then enter into an agreement with the collaborating artiste or his record company to ensure that the Plaintiff and the Defendant receive proper credit, legal/copyright protection and compensation for the collaborative work".

They also accused the singer of owing them“Hundreds of millions in Naira from the Lamborghini Gallardo super-fast car which he still has to pay back to the label and and also an album that must be released through the right channels. He has been doing numerous collaborations with several artists without getting the written approval of the label and as a result, no royalties have come back to the label from any of these collaborations. He has been warned severally about this on numerous occasions but he refused to listen, so we as the label had to go to court to stop him from these dubious actions.”

The first injunction against Runtown was granted on May 20, 2016, by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Fast Forward

According to Eric Many, the lawsuit filed against Runtown this time is based on the funds he allegedly is owing the label.

Shedding more light on the other injunction, the label’s General Manager, Johnson Adumike said it was based on the unauthorised collaborations which he did.

Adumike also told 360Nobs that the name Runtown belongs to Eric Many Records, adding that the singer is still signed to the label.

The label, in a statement issued on Friday, May 25, 2018, also said “As you are aware, lately we have been in court with Runtown over copyrights issues with regards to two collabo videos he made without our prior approval.

“Truly, the much-publicized legal action at the Federal High Court in Lagos was, contrary to what many believe, not on the entire contract we signed with Runtown. It was only on the unapproved collabo videos and we claimed general damages of about N65 Million for the copyright infringement.

“We had thought that Runtown would see reason to retrace his steps on our contract following the ‘warning case’ on copyright infringement,” the statement read.

“This was not to be as he took to the social media, especially Twitter, dishing out insults on our Chairman, Prince Okwudili Umenyiora, boasting that he was no longer with Eric Many.

“His elder brother joined on Instagram boasting that his company ‘JSparrowMedia’ is now the person booking Runtown’s shows and no longer Eric Many.

“Under our contract, the professional name ‘Runtown’ and other names are licensed to Eric Many. Yet Runtown went to Trademarks Registry in Abuja and has been working to take the names from us.”

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Runtown's contract

The statement also revealed that Runtown’s contract will expire on June 22, 2018, Eric Many is seeking to recoup the investment and expenses they made on Runtown’s career.

The label said the singer has also not delivered an album as required in his contract for the period of the agreement.

“These and many other issues thrown up by the copyrights suit confirmed to us that indeed Runtown had walked out on us. We therefore decided to sue him for comprehensive breach of contract, to the sum of N266,694,755.”

“While our contract is supposed to fall due for expiration on 22nd June 2018, Eric Many now has an outstanding balance of about N266,694,755.08 to recoup on our investment and expenses on Runtown’s career.

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“He is also yet to deliver an album which the contract requires him to deliver to us during the contract period.

“The contract spells out the procedure for the production of the album. Runtown is yet to initiate the procedure, whilst he focuses on Abuja Trademarks Registry scheming on how to make us lose grip of his professional name,” the statement reads.

“Last Wednesday, 23rd May 2018, following the advice of our lawyers, we withdrew our case at the federal high court on the collabos to have more time and focus to pursue the case of breach of contract.”

“Our lawyers had advised that since the breach of contract and recovery of our outstanding sum of N266,694,755.08 is a bigger picture, it would be more reasonable to drop the copyright case and focus our energy on the contract case.

“We accepted this advice and gave a go-ahead for the Lagos case to be withdrawn,” it added.

A source connected to the label claims it severally issued warnings to Runtown about the illegal collaborations, but Runtown told them it was all for support, until it was discovered that he was collecting money.

Runtown even went ahead collaborated with Uganda’s popular female artiste “Sheba” and South African artiste “K.O” without the label consent, the source added.