HARARE - The recently relaunched Daily News has been hit with a US$60,000 damages claim by the man who banned the newspaper seven years ago. Zanu PF Politburo member Prof Jonathan Moyo has filed the suit against the paper demanding that the paper immediately stops publishing his archived content that is scathing in its criticism of President Mugabe and Zanu PF ostensibly because the paper does not have his authorization.
Although the publication mentioned that the the articles are publicly available on his blog prof-jonathan-moyo.com, it is very possible to sue the Daily News under the Copyright and Neighbouring Act if the paper doesn’t take any action to stop, legal experts say.
Moyo’s suit cites the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, the publishers of the Daily News, as the first respondent, and managing editor John Gambanga as the second respondent, in a move media observers say is the latest attempt to gag the paper.
“The offending works are a reproduction of the original works (or substantial part thereof.),” says Moyo’s suit. “Further, the second defendant has caused the first defendant tyo sell or by way of trade offer or expose for sale or distribute in Zimbabwe copies of the offending works to such an extent that the plaintiff is prejudicially affecvted,” Moyo says throuigh his lawyers Hussein Ranchod and Co.
Gambanga said the ANZ will “defend the matter.” Moyo accuses the Daily News of violating copyright laws by giving its
readers access to archived newspaper articles which the papers themselves would now charge people to read, and wants “all copies of the works in the defendant’s possession returned.”
Post published in: News