Comedian Butita sues e-commerce firm for violating his brand

Former Churchill Show comedian Edwin ‘Eddie’ Butita has filed a lawsuit against an online shopping brand Mall of Africa for using his brand name ‘Eddie Butita’ to promote their Black Friday sale without his consent.

In the lawsuit, the comedian seeks to be compensated with up to Sh10 million, given that online shop did not even bother to pay him for the image rights. 

Butita issued a demand letter to Mall of Africa through law firm MNO Advocates LLP last month and demanded for a written admission of their unlawful commercialisation of his brand. 

The comedian also demanded for an engagement on the amount of compensation.

The letter read in part, “On 22nd October 2020 in anticipation of the international Black Friday you exploited our client’s widely renowned brand to market your business and attract shoppers. While using our client’s brand, you posted promotional content on your social media platforms inviting buyers to visit and shop on your online shops during the Black Friday Extravaganza. You were cheeky enough to tag our client’s handles on all your social media platforms to give credence to your lawful use of his brand.” 

However, in their response, Mall of Africa denied any unlawful act on using his name and reportedly diminished his compensation demands, prompting the comedian to move to court.

MNO Advocates LLP senior lawyer Okalle Makanda told a local publication, “We are going to court. Currently we are processing court documents which we will be serving Mall of Africa in the next 10 to 14 days. We are seeking compensation for commercialisation of our client’s online brand to market their Black Friday sales without paying for it. We basically seeking damages for our client that could go up to Sh10 million.” 

The lawyer said they will petition the court to compel Mall of Africa to produce their sales record during this Black Friday period that began  on November 27. 

He said, "In the letter they argued that our client’s brand name isn’t a trademark hence don’t warrant any compensation or payment.”

They will then use the records to demand the millions in compensation. Makanda added that the response from Mall of Africa and the evidence they make their case strong.