| Authority: | High Court |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction: | Tanzania |
| Relevant law: | Article 18 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania |
| Type: | Violation |
| Outcome: | Violation |
| Started: | N/A |
| Decided: | 13 October 2023 |
| Published: | N/A |
| Fine: | TZS 450 million |
| Parties: | Multichoice Tanzania Limited vs Alphonse Felix Simbu & 2 Others |
| Case No./Parties: | Commercial Appeal No. 01 of 2023 |
| Appeal: | N/A |
| Original Source: | TANZLII |
| Original contributor: | Isaac Vincent |
The High Court held Multichoice Tanzania Limited (the “Appellant”), liable for infringing on the rights of the Complainant when it used the Complainant's image in a billboard and social media without his permission.
Alphonse Felix Simbu Felix Simbu is a Tanzanian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He and 2 others (the “Respondent”) filed a suit in the District Court of Arusha against the Appellant in which they alledged that the Appellant used their images in an advertisement without first obtaining their consent.
According to the suit, their images were displayed in a billboard in Mwenge, Dar es Salaam and in the Appellant's social media in an effort to promote their product in violation of the Respondents’ right to privacy. They sought an award of damages. The Appellant claimed public interest classifying the use of the image as a news item.
The court agreed with the Respondent and awarded them TZS 450 million as general damages prompting the Appellant to file this appeal at the High Court. The appeal raised several issues for determination to include jurisdiction, evaluation of evidence, standard of proof, right of use and the applicable interest rate.
The High Court dismissed the appeal. It affirmed that the Appellant ought to have obtained the consent of the Respondents prior to publishing their images and in failing to do so breached the Respondent's image rights/ right to privacy. In reaching this decision, the court noted that the images were used for commercial purposes (gain) and not for news in the public interest. The court however adjusted the interest rate applicable to the award from 10% to 7%.
The original case was instituted in 2021 before the Tanzania Personal Data Protection Act, 2022 was passed in 1 November 2022.
https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/court-news/multichoice-tanzania-ordered-to-pay-three-athletes-sh450-million-4057090