Nigerian filmmaker Benneth Nwankwo has filed a Motion on Notice at the Federal High Court in Awka under the Copyright Act 2022, seeking an order restraining another YouTube channel from using promotional materials Benneth says belong to one of his films. He shared details of the case in a Facebook post, revealing that the filing follows a piracy dispute that began months earlier, after a film from his stable pulled in nearly 2 million views, only for another channel to reupload it using the same thumbnail and title before his own version had even gone live.
According to Benneth's account, the theft happened less than 24 hours after his film went live. The other channel had allegedly lifted his thumbnail and exact title and already gathered thousands of views before his own upload picked up traction, giving YouTube's system reason to keep directing traffic to the copy instead of the original.
Benneth wrote that he responded by filing a takedown request through YouTube's dashboard, only for the other party to file a counter notice claiming ownership of the film and citing fair use protection. YouTube then asked for formal court filing documents to back his claim, which he provided, and the dispute was resolved in his favour on the platform. The Federal High Court filing marks a further step, formally seeking to restrain the channel from any continued use of his promotional materials.
"If we do not fight this digital piracy, nothing will really change," Benneth said in the post, urging other filmmakers to stop treating reuploads as an inconvenience to complain about and start pursuing legal action instead. He argued that pirated reuploads are now appearing within hours of a film's release, and that only formal legal consequences, not public education, will make the practice stop.
