For three decades, Nigerian Juju maestro, King Sunny Ade, has been battling in court with African Songs and its subsidiary, Take Your Choice Stores for infringing on his works.
His labours have recently been rewarded. According to a statement of claim filed before the court by a Lagos lawyer Chief Felix Fagbohungbe, SAN, in 1975, a contract dispute arose between King Suny Ade and the two companies.
It was gathered that during the judgment, the court ordered the companies to return the master tapes of the original musical works produced under the label of the two companies by Sunny Ade, but before the master tape could be returned the chairman chief Executive Office of the two companies Chief Bolarinwa Abioro died.
Consequently, in a bid to retrieve the master Tapes Sunny Ade in 1997 dragged the two companies before a federal high court in Lagos.
Thirty years after he instituted a suit against the two companies, King Sunny Ade now has cause to smile as he has been awarded a whopping N500million as damages, for infringing on his works with additional cost of N3million for prosecuting the suit.
The claim against other defendants were struck out on the ground that not enough evidence were adduced against them.
