VIU sues e.tv for R38 million over Scandal!' and Imbewu: The Seed'

VIU sues e.tv for R38 million over Scandal!' and Imbewu: The Seed'Viewers of both Scandal!' and Imbewu: The Seed' have not been able to watch the shows on the VIU South Africa App since July.

by Rae Seleme

18-08-2021

in SA TV and Film

(left) Scandal!' cast on Linidiwe's wedding day and (right) Imbewu: The Seed' actresses Brenda Mhlongo as KaMandonsela and Nqobile Siphamla as Thokozile. Images via Twitter @etvScandal and @etvImbewu

Singapore Company PCCW Vuclip PTE LTD which trades as Vuclip is suing e.tv R38 million for allegedly breaching their licensing contract to stream Scandal! and Imbewu: The Seed on their VIU South Africa App.

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The company filed urgent papers at the Joburg High Court to force e.tv to pull off their soapies from its newly launched video-streaming platform eVod.

Sunday World reported that e.tv's video-streaming subscribers will be denied access to watch Scandal! and Imbewu: The Seed if the court rules in Vuclip's favour.

Why is #etvScandal no longer on Viu?

uncletshephi (@uncle___ZA) August 9, 2021

VIU TELLS THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY Ryan Soloyei who is responsible for managing Viu's African end-to-end operation said their company purchased exclusive licences from the channel to stream Scandal! and Imbewu: The Seed on 31 December 2019 for a substantial amount of R37 million.

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The contract between e.tv and Vuclip stated that the Singapore company was permitted to stream all current and historic episodes until 2024.

E.tv allegedly unlawfully cancelled these agreements after alleging that Vuclip was suing the soap operas for reasons not authorised by the agreements.

Vuclip discovered that a third party, Philosopher App, was unlawfully pirating the soapies which caused financial strain to their company.

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We may just have you at the edge of your seat all day. #eVOD

Download the eVOD app from Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Visit https://t.co/HINeE8cSjy for more info. #eVOD Your Shows Your Way pic.twitter.com/RB1lIrIwAQ

Imbewu (@etvImbewu) August 17, 2021

E.TV IS NOT BACKING DOWN E.tv accused Vuclip of colluding with Philosopher App to pirate its content, cancelled the licensing agreement and launched its own video-streaming platform e-Video on Demand platform or eVod.

Soloyei told the publication:

The ineluctable conclusion is that e.tv engineered a contrived cancellation of Vuclip's licensing agreements to gain access to exclusive content, which was exclusively licensed to Vuclip, but which e.tv wished to broadcast on its own platform.

eMedia told Sunday World that they are aware of the case and allegations made by VIU.

Megan Oosthuyse, eTV's account manager stated:

We have a responsibility to safeguard the Intellectual Property and integrity of our programming content, and we are acting in the best interest of all our stakeholders. Piracy threatens the livelihoods of many and we have a duty to act against it.

Where s #etvScandal Viu? Be serious please!!

Nonkululeko_G (@NonkululekoG3) August 11, 2021

@etvScandal @etv @ViuSouthAfrica are we no longer having #etvScandal on viu anymore? It s been a week now without watching Scandal

Phuti Molokomme (@PhutiMolokomme3) August 7, 2021

Also read: Scandal!': Two shocking exists, betrayal and a wedding in one night

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