Office of the attorney general of the federation (AGF) has withdrawn the pending copyright infringement charges instituted against MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, its chief executive officer Karl Toriola and executive Nkeakam Abhulimen by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
The withdrawal was announced on Wednesday before Justice Umar Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The court had earlier fixed the date for the AGF’s legal team to report its next step regarding the criminal case.
In July, the AGF, through its counsel, Aderonke Imana, informed the court that a decision on the case would be made by October.
The Federal High Court had on July 8, 2024, granted the AGF permission to take over and review the alleged copyright infringement case against MTN Nigeria and its CEO, following a petition by the company.
The NCC had filed the case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024, against MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Karl Toriola, Nkeakam Abhulimen, Fun Mobile Limited and Yahaya Maibe.
The matter had been adjourned several times due to the non-appearance of some defendants who were scheduled to be arraigned.
The NCC alleged that MTN and others used several soundtracks as caller ringback tones without authorization from the original owners.
An NCC official, Samuel Udowo, stated in a deposition that the Commission investigated a complaint by musician Maleke Moye, who accused the defendants of using his musical works as caller tunes without consent.
Mr Udowo said the investigation found that the defendants committed copyright offenses.
MTN’s lawyer, Obafemi Agaba, later filed a motion urging the court to decline jurisdiction over the case.
While the case was pending, MTN’s solicitors, Jackson, Etti & Edu, petitioned the AGF, alleging that the NCC and Maleke Moye were attempting to damage the company’s reputation and business.
They requested that the AGF take over the case to prevent abuse of legal process.
The AGF applied to the court to take over and review the case and the request was granted.
At Wednesday’s sitting, AGF counsel G.C. Nweze informed the court that after reviewing the case, the AGF decided to withdraw MTN, Mr Toriola and Abhulimen from the charge.
He said Fun Mobile Limited and Yahaya Maibe would take their pleas in an amended charge.
MTN’s lawyer, Mr Agaba, did not oppose the application.
Justice Umar subsequently struck out the names of MTN, Toriola and Abhulimen from the case and adjourned proceedings.
The development means that MTN and its officials have been cleared from the criminal case originally filed by the NCC.
The AGF has the legal authority to take over criminal proceedings initiated by any federal agency.
