Publisher ordered to pay over sh100m for copyright infringement

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The Commercial Division High Court in Kampala has ordered a publishing company to pay a Ugandan author over shillings 100 million in damages for unlawfully reproducing and selling her children’s stories without consent.

In a ruling delivered on October 2, 2025, the court found that MK Publishers Ltd had infringed on the copyright and moral rights of the plaintiff’s manuscript “Our Folktales”, which contained six short stories authored by Annette Najjemba.

According to evidence adduced in court, it was established that MK Publishers Ltd allegedly reproduced and sold some of the stories as part of audio collections for Primary Five and Primary Six in Rwanda, branding the compact discs with its own insignia and that of the Rwandan government.

Justice Patience Rubagumya stated that Najjemba was entitled to general damages of shillings 70 million, as well as exemplary damages of 30 million, with interest accruing at 6% per annum until full payment. The court also awarded the author the costs of the suit.

“The defendant benefitted commercially from the plaintiff’s work from 2013 to date, without paying her,” the judge said.

The court further observed that the exemplary damages were necessary to punish the wrongful conduct and deter similar actions in the future.

In addition, the court ordered the defendant to pay 30% royalty fees on profits earned from the sales of the audio stories and issued a permanent injunction stopping further use of Najjemba's manuscript.

However, the court declined to grant aggravated damages, reasoning that while the infringement was unlawful, it did not amount to impunity.

Najjemba, who authored: Our Folktales in 2010, had initially submitted an abridged version of the manuscript to the defendant in 2012 for publishing, only to later discover that the work had been altered, allegedly altered to reflect Rwandan culture and sold in Rwanda without her authorisation.

Najjemba accuses the publishers of unlawfully reproducing and distributing her stories, arguing that no licence or copyright transfer was ever granted. MK Publishers Limited, on the other hand, contends that Najjemba voluntarily submitted the manuscript for publishing and that the editing and reproduction were done in line with that arrangement.