Thursday 26 February 2009

Darren Olivier

Feldman and Cipla case updates

Afro-IP's 500th post reports that as of yesterday the RSA judge in the CIPLA case is procrastinating and we are still without judgment, despite promises.


Meanwhile, Afro-IP has been able to unearth a court settlement in the Feldman v Samro case where that case has been referred to arbitration (linked here). The case has put SAMRO squarely in the spotlight over its transparency and policies and seems to cast a shadow over Afro-IP's recent positive post on Samro's Xmas bonus. Readers may recall that Feldman, representing the estate of Brenda Fassie, has issued a claim for royalty income allegedly not paid by Samro since 2006. It seems unfortunate though that this case has been referred to arbitration especially as the Court declared that "the arbitration and any appeal shall be private arbitrations and confidential to the parties". Samro plays a very important role in the development of musical talent in Africa and if its own transparency is under scrutiny then it seems appropriate that the dispute be transparent too.

Afro-Ip would welcome comments on both cases.

Darren Olivier

Darren Olivier

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