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Writer drags publishing firm to court, demands N45m compensation

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A Lagos-based writer, Mrs Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, has dragged a foreign publishing firm, Melrose, to the Ogun State High Court in Ota over the firm’s alleged failure to publish her manuscript submitted since 2012.

She also requested through a law firm, Oluyinka Olujimi & Associates, that the court should issue out N45m damages against Melrose for failing to publish, return, or compensate her, based on the agreement between them.

A copy of the agreement reads in part:

“should the publisher be unable to publish the work which is the subject of this agreement due to any unforeseen reasons, the parties to this agreement shall agree on an amount to be paid to the author as compensation for the labour expended.”

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According to Olaoye, the company published an advertorial in a national newspaper, inviting people with educational children stories to submit them for consideration and eventual publication in 2012.

She added that her story was considered good after which she was eventually invited by the firm for negotiation and signing of a contract.

However, despite repeated demands for the return of her intellectual work, Melrose had neither published the work nor compensated her.

The matter was adjourned to April 9, 2019 for further hearing.

By Todimu Ogunade…

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