RANSOME-KUTI v. PHONOGRAM LTD.

The plaintiff in this application is seeking an order of this court "restraining the defendant by itself, its agents, servants and privies from publishing or causing to be published for distribution, sale or use in Ghana, a musical tape entitled 'Everything Scatter' owned and produced by the plaintiff between May and October 1975."

The facts as revealed by the rival affidavits are not seriously in dispute. It is admitted by the defendants that the plaintiff created and composed a musical work entitled "Everything Scatter" in Nigeria but by an agreement, exhibit A, made between the plaintiff and Phonogram Ltd. (Nigeria) dated 14 October 1975, the plaintiff assigned to Phonogram Ltd. (Nigeria) the sole and exclusive right to produce or reproduce and sell the works on records and tapes as a single album as well as recordings on cassette tapes and cartridges all over the continent of Africa for a period of three years from 14 October 1975, in consideration of sums of money specified in the said agreement.

The plaintiff is contending that Phonogram Ltd. (Nigeria) (hereinafter referred to as the Nigerian company) has no right whatsoever to delegate its duty of publishing to the defendants, and counsel for the plaintiff referred to the case of Griffith v. Tower Publishing Co. Ltd. [1895-99] All; E.R. Rep. 323 where it was decided that a publishing agreement between an author and his publisher or firm of publishers is personal to the parties and cannot be assigned without the author's consent. In this case the plaintiff agreed with the defendant-company, a firm of publishers, for the printing and selling of his three novels but the publishers went into liquidation and were arranging with another company to publish the said novels. On application for an injunction to restrain the defendants and the receiver the court said an injunction should go. It is clear from the judgment that the copyright in the novels remained in the plaintiff who was entitled to protect his interest in so far as the printing and selling of the novels were concerned. He therefore instituted the action to restrain the defendants therein. And in the absence of any power in the defendants to assign their right and interest in the agreement, it is clear that they could not without the consent of the author (the plaintiff) attempt to assign the publication of the novels to another company. Again it seems that the right to assign any interest in the agreement was not reserved to either of the