Jumia Could Be Facing Legal Battle with Richard Mofe-Damijo
Jumia, popular eCommerce website could be facing some legal hot water for unapologetically using RMD’s Instagram photos without his permission.
Nollywood actor and fashion icon Richard Mofe-Damijo is allegedly planning to drag Jumia to court for using his photos for promotional purposes on their Instagram fashion page.
The silver-haired 55-year-old actor called Jumia out a few days back for using his photos to promote their retail fashion website without his explicit permission. His publicist states that the repetitive use of RMD’s photos by Jumia is a copyright infringement and as such requires legal action.
RMD’s lawyer Meena Ajakpovi of Messrs. Abraham & Co contacted Jumia about the violation but the latter remained adamant and unapologetic. While they have taken down photos of the actor, they deny any sort of violation by stating that his photos were posted on a public platform and as such not subject to copyright.
It may just be me but it sounds like RMD would like to be paid every time his photos are used. Besides Jumia Fashion used his photos in a ‘celebrating fashion’ kind of way not the ‘we-have-this-come-by-this’ way. There are photos of international stars like Rihanna and Jenifer Lopez on their page but they clearly do not have the items worn by these A-List celebrities on their site.
If RMD decides to get aggressively protective about his images and sue every fashion page that uses his photos, the list would go on and on. Maybe Jumia should be a little more sensitive about whose picture they put up on their page. Or better yet, apologize to the actor and move on.
As an afterthought, I’m starting to think maybe I should have reached out before using his photos here.
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