Local Singer Free Boy Sues MTN And Airtel For Copyright Infringement

Posted by: Andre Reagan in Entertainment May 5, 2021

The latest info indicates singer Mubarak Mandela aka Free Boy has sued telecommunication giants Airtel and MTN for using his song for promotion minus his consent. Recently, musicians in Uganda have started to take their work seriously. They are fighting those who eat off their sweat minus paying them.

This comes after Apass tweeted telling all local websites that have his music uploaded on their websites to have it removed. Free Boy says they haven’t paid him for it.

The singer collaborated with Swangz Avenue’s Winnie Nwagi on the smash hit “Kwata Essimu” in late 2019. He has sued the biggest mobile service providers in the land MTN and Airtel through Viva entertainment.

The singer accuses the two mobile companies of using his song “Kwata essimu” for their promotional campaigns since March last year without paying him.

The singer filed a lawsuit before the Commercial Division of the High Court. He now wants both companies to compensate him with 175M Uganda shillings each for infringing on his material.

The singer through his lawyers Katende and Sempebwa advocates said that he took this step after trying to reach out to the companies for a mutual agreement but in despair.

Viva Entertainment signed the singer four years back in 2017. He says he has enough evidence to pin these companies. They have used his song as a caller tune and promoting other material.

The CEO of Viva entertainment, Gilbert Adibo, said that they had taken this as the last step after numerous futile attempts to reach out to these two companies.

However, MTN through its lawyers Shonubi, Musoke and Co. Advocates denied this claim and said they were ready to battle legally with the accusers. By the time of this story, there was no official reply from Airtel regarding this story.

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