Runtown sued by Record Label over breach of contract

For the second time in 2 years, Eric Many, the record label that signed Nigerian pop star, Runtown has filed an injunction at a Federal High court against the singer for breach of contract.

According to a mail sent by Eric Many to BellaNaija, the entertainment company served Runtown the court papers with Suit No: FHC/L/CS/267/2018 a few days back with a statement that partly reads:

Runtown has been deliberately breaching his contract with us (Eric Many) for a while and despite our many appeals to him he has refused to bulge. He went for a show in Las Vegas since January 13th, 2018 and has since decided to withdraw all obligations of his contract. He has steadily been recording an album without the consent and approval of his record label.

According to the statement of claim filed at the Federal High Court by Eric Many:

A Recording Agreement was made between the Plaintiff and the Defendant dated 22nd June 2016, the copyright and other intellectual property and cognate rights and legal positions and protections applicable to all works done by the Defendant during an initial period of two years covered by the Agreement, is vested in the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff will rely on a copy of the said Recording Agreement at trial. 7. Under the Agreement, parties recognize and acknowledge the sum of N114,456,670.00 (One Hundred and Fourteen Million, Four Hundredand Fifty Six Thousand,Six Hundred and Seventy Naira) as “Prior Investment”, representing the sum invested by the Plaintiff into the development of the Defendant’s musical works and records under the defunct ‘Artiste Agreement’, precursor to the ‘Recording Agreement”.

In a press statement issued Monday morning, the label also stated that: He’s recording with artists like Del B without the written approval of the label and without an Eric Many appointee at the point of recording as agreed in our contract. Runtown has also been appearing in venues and collecting appearance fees without the approval of the label and also performing in private shows without the label’s consent which contravenes clause 4.4.1 of his record deal which states that ‘the Defendant(Runtown) can only engage in recording, collaborating or performing with other artistes for third parties or other record companies upon proper notification in advance to the Plaintiff. Upon this notification, the Plaintiff would then enter into an agreement with the collaborating artiste or his record company to ensure that the Plaintiff and the Defendant receive proper credit, legal/copyright protection and compensation for the collaborative work.

Though Runtown’s record deal with Eric Many is due to expire at some point this year, the label says he still owes the company a lot of money including: Hundreds of millions in Naira from the Lamborghini Gallardo super-fast car which he still has to pay back to the label and and also an album that must be released through the right channels. He has been doing numerous collaborations with several artists without getting the written approval of the label and as a result, no royalties have come back to the label from any of these collaborations. He has been warned severally about this on numerous occasions but he refused to listen, so we as the label had to go to court to stop him from these dubious actions.

The label also confirms sacking his current manager, Ifeanyi Nwunne saying: Eric Many has also fired Ifeanyi Nwunne as Runtown’s manager. He is more of a drug addict that smokes marijuana round the clock. A new manager will be appointed soonest.

Eric Many in its statement of claim is seeking the sum of: N65 MILLION being General Damages against the Defendant (Runtown) in favour of the Plaintiff for infringement of the Plaintiff’s copyright to the collaborative musical works “Call Me” and “Weekend” both of which featured the Defendant as well as N5 MILLION as costs of this action. Eric Many has chosen to hold back on anything pertaining to Runtown, till further investigations. This means that anyone who engages Runtown without a written approval from Eric Many, signed by the chairman, will be sued heavily.

This will be the second time in two years that Runtown has had a face off with his label. In May 2016, he was sued by Eric Many on allegations that he signs up, concludes and attends musical shows without the knowledge of the label. Back then, Eric Many also secured a court injunction stopping Runtown from performing as an artiste anywhere in the world. He later went back to the label to apologize and the case was settled out of court.