Wakilii

Annette Najjemba v MK Publishers Limited (Civil Suit No. 508 of 2016)

High Court · [2025] UGCOMMC 353 · 2025 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for copyright infringement
Decision
Judgment entered for the Plaintiff with declarations of copyright infringement, monetary awards, and permanent injunction issued

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that MK Publishers Limited infringed both the copyright and moral rights of author Annette Najjemba when it altered, reproduced, and sold four of her children's stories as audio series to the Government of Rwanda without her written authorization, licence, or assignment, and without acknowledging her authorship. The court awarded 30% royalty fees, general damages of UGX 70 million, exemplary damages of UGX 30 million, and issued a permanent injunction restraining further infringement.

Outcome

Judgment entered for the Plaintiff with declarations of copyright infringement, monetary awards, and permanent injunction issued

Facts

In 2010, Annette Najjemba authored a manuscript titled 'Our Folktales' containing six children's stories. In 2012, she submitted a tweaked abridged version to MK Publishers Limited for publishing. In 2013, she discovered that the Defendant had, without her authorization, altered four of her stories to fit Rwandan culture, reproduced them as audio stories for Primary Five and Six, and sold them to the Government of Rwanda under a contract dated 15 December 2012. The audio story jackets bore the Defendant's insignia as author, not the Plaintiff's. The Defendant attributed the stories to itself and did not acknowledge the Plaintiff as author. The Defendant claimed implied consent from the Plaintiff's submission of the manuscript, but admitted no written licence, assignment, or transfer existed, and that the Plaintiff was never paid for the work sold to Rwanda.

Issues

  1. Whether the Defendant infringed on the Plaintiff's copyright?
  2. What remedies are available to the parties?

Orders

  • It is declared that the Plaintiff's copyright and moral rights of her literary work comprised in a manuscript titled 'Our Folktales' were infringed on by the Defendant.
  • The Defendant is ordered to pay 30% royalty fees for profits arising out of the sales of the 'VCD-MK audio stories Primary Five' and 'VCD-MK audio stories Primary Six'.
  • A permanent injunction is issued against the Defendant, its agents and employees from further dealing in the Plaintiff's literary work titled 'Our Folktales'.
  • The Plaintiff is awarded general damages amounting to UGX 70,000,000.
  • The Plaintiff is awarded exemplary damages amounting to UGX 30,000,000.
  • The Plaintiff is awarded interest at the rate of 24% per annum on the royalty fees from the date the cause of action arose until payment in full.
  • Interest is awarded at the rate of 6% per annum on the general and exemplary damages from the date of Judgment until payment in full.
  • The Plaintiff is awarded the costs of the suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Copyright — Infringement — Elements of Copyright Infringement
For a claim of copyright infringement to prevail, the plaintiff must show ownership of a valid copyright and copying of the protected work by the alleged infringer.
Copyright — Assignment and Licence — Requirement of Written Assignment
Under Section 13(3) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, an assignment or transfer of economic rights in copyright must be in writing and signed by the owner of the rights and the person to whom the rights are being assigned or transferred.
Copyright — Implied Licence — Insufficiency of Implied Consent
Although Section 13(4) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act provides that a licence may be oral or inferred from conduct or circumstances, the absence of express permission to alter, adapt, reproduce, and sell a literary work, combined with the failure to acknowledge the author or pay royalties, constitutes copyright infringement notwithstanding any alleged implied consent from submission of a manuscript for consideration.
Copyright — Moral Rights — Right to Attribution
Under Section 9(1) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, an author has a moral right to have their name or pseudonym mentioned or acknowledged each time the work is used. Failure to acknowledge the author and attributing authorship to another party constitutes infringement of moral rights.
Copyright — Remedies — Royalty Fees and Interest
Where a defendant has infringed both copyright and moral rights by selling the infringing material to a third party, the court may order payment of royalty fees at a rate reflecting the seriousness of the infringement, together with interest from the date the cause of action arose until payment in full.
Copyright — Remedies — General and Exemplary Damages
The measure of damages for copyright infringement depends on the circumstances of each case and should reflect what remuneration the plaintiff would fairly have received had the defendant sought and obtained proper licence. Exemplary damages may be awarded to punish the defendant and deter repetition of conduct where the defendant has benefitted from the plaintiff's work over an extended period without payment.
Copyright — Remedies — Permanent Injunction
Under Section 44(1) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, a person whose copyright has been infringed may obtain a permanent injunction restraining the infringer, its agents and employees from further dealing in the protected work and from further acts of infringement.

Legislation cited (12)

Cases cited (14)

  • Knight Frank Uganda Ltd v Broll Uganda Ltd & Another (High Court Civil Suit No. 206 of 2021)
  • Sawkins Vs Hyperion Records Ltd [2005] EWCA Civ. 565
  • Stella Atal v Ann Abels Kiruta (High Court Civil Suit No. 967 of 2004)
  • Sebuliba Busuulwa Vs Co-operative Bank Ltd [1982] HCB 129
  • Zeenode Limited v The Attorney General & 2 Others (High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 347 of 2021)
  • Francis Day and Hunter Limited Vs Twentieth Century Fox Corporation Limited & Others [1940] AC 112
  • Ravenscroft Herbert Vs New English Library Limited [1980] RPC 193-212
  • Bwavu Mpologoma Growers' Co-operative Union Limited Vs Gasston and Barbour & Others [1959] EA 307
  • Obsessions Company Ltd v Warid Telecom (High Court Civil Suit No. 373 of 2010)
  • Garfield Spence v Airtel Uganda Limited & Others (High Court Civil Suit No. 545 of 2015)
  • Luzinda Marion Babirye v Ssekamatte (Alias Mulwana Samuel) & Others (Civil Suit No. 366 of 2017)
  • Obongo Orude & Another Vs Municipal Council of Kisumu [1971] EA 91
  • Costa Construction Services Ltd v Globe Trotters Limited (High Court Civil Suit No. 790 of 2015)
  • Uganda Development Bank Vs Muganga Construction Co. Ltd [1981] HCB 35

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Annette Najjemba v MK Publishers Limited (Civil Suit No. 508 of 2016) [2025] UGCommC 353 (2 October 2025)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.