Speed Darlington, a well-known Nigerian rapper who now calls the US home, has filed a lawsuit against Palmpay, a fintech company.
After Palmpay improperly utilized his image for commercial gain, he issued a cease and desist order to the company.
The situation started when Palmpay posted an ad on their official Twitter account showing users’ emotions after utilizing the eWallet service to fill their accounts. He thought the advertisement offensive because it had a picture of Speed Darlington.
Speed Darlington promptly warned Palmpay to either compensate him for the unauthorized use of his image or remove the advertisement. He emphasized that he has worked hard to build his image and wouldn’t tolerate its unauthorized exploitation. However, since his warning didn’t yield the desired outcome and the advert remained on the platform, he decided to escalate the matter by involving his lawyers and filing a legal case against Palmpay.
Speed Darlington set to sue Palmpay for using his image without his authorization ——————————————————
Los Angeles Ike 2pac Tacha Balogun Manchester United pic.twitter.com/cCHa4j2Z8j
— Letstalk9jablog (@Letstalk9jablog) August 19, 2023
Speed Darlington’s demand for compensation from Palmpay is substantial, with the rapper requesting a sum of 200 million Naira as reparation for the unauthorized use of his image by the fintech platform.
In a letter that he shared on his official Instagram page, Speed Darlington expressed his concerns and intentions clearly. He indicated that if Palmpay fails to comply with his demands in a timely manner, he and his legal team would proceed to seek judicial resolution. This would involve taking legal action based on the violation of intellectual property laws applicable in Nigeria.
It reads in part: “Our client briefed us that on Monday, the 14 of August 2023, you made a post on your X page (formerly known as Twitter) using the pictorial representation of our client. Mr Achakpo. The post which you captioned; “Monday Morning Mood when you fund your Cowry wallet on Palmpay App”. You made this post with the pure intent of running an advert with our client’s image, to gain massive publicity and rip off from the popularity, fame and salability of his image.
We were further briefed that you made the aforementioned post without the consent or authorization of our client. This act of yours has constituted a violation of his image rights, a breach of his fundamental human rights, and a breach of intellectual property laws and data protection laws applicable in Nigeria.
Contrary to your blissful ignorance (which you may claim), it is both judicial and statutory provisions in jurisdictions around the world as earlier noted that every person has a right to how his image is used and this is called image right or right to publicity and the person should give out his unalloyed consent and be paid adequate compensation for this usage but when the person’s consent was not sought before his image is used for any purpose it amounts to a statutory violation and clear cut breach of not just the image right but the fundamental human rights as constitutional provided specifically in Section 37 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
On the above premise, we are demanding the sum of N200,000,000 for the unauthorized usage of the image of our client as well as adequate compensation for the promotion and publicity you have generated using the fame and popularity of our client. We also demand the immediate removal of the advert bearing our client’s image or pictorial representation.”
