Femi Adebayo in an Instagram post, applauded the dedication and commitment of his legal team towards achieving this milestone. Adding that he has been awarded a ₦25 million which is a win for the entire Nollywood.
According to the filmmaker, a big media company in 2019 took advantage of his movie ‘Surviving Jelili’ to divert revenue that would have rather come to him. He sued them through his legal team and after three years, justice has been served.
The producer of ‘Jagun Jagun’ noted that, piracy is a canker that is preventing the growth of the film industry. And filmmakers must be ready to fight until the habit of piracy comes to a halt. As he puts it, ‘dare devil pirates’ are preventing the film industry from achieving the dividends that come with the business.
“The Nigerian film industry has experienced exponential growth over the years, but we haven’t been able to maximise the true dividends of this business because of dare devil pirates who benefit where they didn’t sow. This is a major reason why investors find it hard to commit their funds to filmmakers. However, through persistence and the use of the legal framework covering intellectual property, we can bring their activities to a gradual halt.”
Femi Adebayo also mentioned that, he has been a victim of movie pirates on countless occasions; and he has not been charitable to the pirates at all.
“Several times, I have been a victim of movie pirates and I never spare them. I recently concluded a legal battle with a notable media company that owns a big radio station and also engages in YouTube content distribution. During the cinema run of “Survival of Jelili” in 2019, my movie was gathering good numbers at that time. They decided to use my movie poster and title to promote a movie on their platform, thereby deceiving fans and diverting revenue accrued to me.”
