Court Orders MBC to Pay Dh2.5m Damages to Egyptian Singer’s Heirs

DUBAI - The Dubai Court of Cassation on Sunday ordered the Dubai-based MBC satellite TV station to pay Dh2.5 million in compensation to the heirs of the late legendary singer, Abdul Haleem Hafez, for breach of copyright.

Published: Mon 23 Feb 2009, 3:04 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 1:33 AM

As per court records, the case dates back to 2006, when the Egyptian icon’s nephew and sister-in-law (brother’s wife) filed a lawsuit at the Dubai Court of First Instance against MBC, for airing the works and audio-visual recordings of the popular singer without their knowledge or approval.

The heirs’ lawyer, Tarik Nassar, told Khaleej Times that his clients had also accused the TV channel of exploiting the late star’s works in promoting commercial brands via advertisements and earning $50 million in profit from a contest. They asked the court to stop the TV series depicting the biography of Hafez and demanded a compensation of Dh15 million.

The late singer was fondly referred to as Al Andaleeb (the nightingale). The MBC TV had telecast the programme titled ‘Who is Al Andaleeb?’ to choose a character with most similar facial features to play the role of the late singer in the Al Andaleeb TV series.

The Dubai Court of First Instance ordered MBC to pay the heirs Dh3.7 million in compensation for breaching the copyright, based on the report of the copyright expert it had assigned. The ruling was confirmed by the Dubai Court of Appeal, which but turned down the heirs’ request to stop the TV series starred by Egyptian actor Shadi Shamel.

Arguing that the heirs’ claims were baseless, MBC’s lawyer, Dr Habib Al Mulla, said Hafez, being a singer, did not have the same rights as an author, and stressed that many TV stations had aired tributes to the late singer.

The case was then taken to the Dubai Court of Cassation, which on Sunday reduced the compensation awarded by the lower courts to Dh2.5 million.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com