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The Show Must Go On, Kizz Daniel’s Legal Team Insists

By Eniola Daniel
21 December 2019   |   3:25 am
Despite the threat by Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) to secure an injunction to stop singer Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe, popularly known as Kizz Daniel, from hosting his live concert on Boxing Day, the legal team of the artiste has assured Nigerians and the sponsors that the show will go on....

Despite the threat by Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) to secure an injunction to stop singer Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe, popularly known as Kizz Daniel, from hosting his live concert on Boxing Day, the legal team of the artiste has assured Nigerians and the sponsors that the show will go on. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) had on December 13, 2019, threatened to stop the Kizz Daniel Live concert following what he described as a breach of the mandatory buy-out clause and infringement of intellectual property. The firm is also demanding the sum of N500 million as compensation to G-Worldwide Entertainment.
 
Speaking at a press briefing in which the artiste himself was absent, Partner and Head of litigation at the L&A Legal Consultant and Solicitor, Oluwaseye Lawal, said his client did not at any time breach the contract he signed with the record label.

“I will like to put on notice that as a law firm that has been on Intellectual Property (IP) for more than 20 years and have worked with the best of the best in the entertainment industry, we are constrained and forced to clear the air on the case between G-WorldWide and Kizz Daniel. As a law firm that is at the forefront of Intellectual property right and entertainment for more than two decades, we do not hug the camera; we always stay behind because we believe that a good lawyer should talk more in court and not outside the court. However, certain events in the last few weeks have forced us to come out. Not particularly because of the case between Kizz Daniel and his former record label, but for the generality of the IP rights ecosystem.

  
“There’s a big misconception out there in Nigeria that where there is a recording contract between an artiste and a record label, that it is only the record label that can terminate the contract; this is not completely true.” He added, “Because this matter is in court, we will not want to delve into the details of the matter, but we want to state equivocally that Kizz Daniel did not breach his contract; he did not walk out of his contract. He only exercises the rights granted to him by the contract; he terminated the contract formally.”
 
The legal practitioner informed, “Kizz Daniel issued a notice of termination as required by the contract. We are putting this out there for other artistes to know that when they are entering into a contract with a record, they must always insist on getting their own lawyer. A contract is a consensus ad idem agreements, so there is nothing like a standard contract. There is a clause in the contract that says that if any of the parties commit a breach and he refused to rectify, the other party can terminate and that is what happened.”
 
“I signed the termination letter of that contract. I had meetings with G-worldwide before the termination. I gave them all the opportunities in the world to do the right thing. I invited them that we should discuss and that we didn’t need to fight over it. The termination was the last recourse because they refused to meet and discuss.  I don’t want to go into the details of the matter. I understand that contract back to back.
 
“As a firm, we believe that the court should be the last resort.  We are very open, we are going to be reasonable, but we are going to be firm on insisting on our rights. So, we are saying this without fear that Kizz Daniel did not walk out of his, he terminates the contract formally.” On as for the forthcoming concert, he explained, “We also want to state clearly that there is no court order anywhere in the world forbidding or preventing Kizz Daniel from performing his craft. So, we call on all the stakeholders, fans and everyone to go out and enjoy good music on December 26. The show will go ahead as planned; there’s nothing stopping us from doing that. It is also important to clarify that the show is not Kizz Daniel’s show, but a third party show. And he is not the only artiste performing at the show; he’s only headlining the show.”
 
On his part, the legal adviser to the promoter of the show, Toro Entertainment limited and Achievers Entertainment, Melvin Ahior, said, “We have received notice from the office of Mr. Olisa Agbakoba with respect to litigation between G-worldwide and Kizz Daniel, asking that we stop the concert for December 26. We have advised our client and we want to make it formal that there is no court injunction restraining Kizz Daniel from performing as an artiste. We also want to say that Kizz Daniel is basically an employee of our clients. So, even though he’s headlining the show, the show is not exclusive to him and therefore cannot be stopped.”

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