According to a report by The Star Kenya, Kenyan pay-TV firms GOtv and Startimes have allegedly denied claims that they were infringing on three media houses’ broadcasting rights.
The report reveals, as stated by The Star, that in a legal case, Royal Media Services (RMS), Nation Media Group (NMG) and Standard Group (SG) are asking a court to set aside orders barring them from airing adverts that claim GOtv and Startimes are carrying their content without a licence. The three companies work together as Africa Digital Network (ADN).
According to the report, GOtv and Startimes had told Justice Alfred Mabeya there is clear evidence that RMS, NMG and SG chose to take self-help measures by airing certain adverts, knowing what a Supreme Court judgment had said regarding infringement of copyright.
The report also reveals that the lawyers partaking in the case stated that the infomercials were misguided and the public interest was being used as a tool by the three media firms. They said a prima facie case has been established.
Two lawyers, Issa Mansour and Kiragu Kimani, acting for the three ADN firms – said there cannot be a prima facie case and the complaint ought to be struck out. The judgment will be delivered on 22 May.
According to law.cornell.edu, a prima facie case is the establishment of a legally required rebuttable presumption. It is generally understood as a flexible evidentiary standard that measures the effect of evidence as meeting, or tending to meet, the proponent’s burden of proof on a given issue.
Staff Writer
