Former president Nelson Mandela has won the first part of his legal battle with his ex-lawyer and a publisher over the sale of his artworks.
The Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday ordered lawyer Ismail Ayob, publisher Ross Calder and various other companies to stop selling the artworks.
They may no longer market and/or sell works of art and other merchandise in South Africa or abroad which involves the use of the name Mandela or his reputation in whatever form.
Mandela sought the interdict after he had established that Calder and Ayob had allegedly reproduced an unknown copy of the artworks without his consent.
Mandela, who spent 27 years in jail during the apartheid regime, decided to collaborate with an artist to produce signed, limited edition paintings portraying his years in prison.
The project was reportedly aimed at raising funds for charities bearing Mandela’s name. The works were snapped up celebrity buyers including United States talkshow host Oprah Winfrey.
Mandela stopped signing the artworks soon after, in the hope that all the copies would be sold.
Calder and Ayob have made undertakings in letters to Mandela’s lawyers — and at the hearing — that they would not oppose the interdict.
However both men have denied that they acted unlawfully or breached copyright laws concerning the matter. Calder wanted this stated in the order but it was denied by Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo.
Ayob also denied that he unlawfully and illegally reproduced Mandela’s original works of art.
The second part of the case is only expected to go to court in August.
Mandela wants the court to remove Ayob and his wife, Zamila, from their positions in the trusts associated with him and is demanding an audited account of the trusts and the project.
Mandela reportedly claimed he was tricked into signing a contract with Tinancier Investment and Holdings Limited, a company which was owned by Ayob, and wants it to be set aside.
The contract, signed in 2001, transfers Mandela’s intellectual copyright to the company — but Mandela claims he was made aware of Tinancier’s existence only last month.
Lawyers for Ayob and Calder told reporters on Tuesday their affidavits only needed to be filed by June 13, and replying affidavits would have to be filed. The court then goes into recess. – Sapa