Abantu Book Festival to take legal action against Exclusive Books
The book festival has accused the book store of allegedly stealing their ideas for years.
Exclusive Books | Image: exclusivebooks.co.za
Platform for black writers and readers Abantu Book Festival has expressed their wish to take legal action against franchise book store Exclusive Books after the latter allegedly used footage from a previous Abantu Festival in one of their latest promotional videos without previously acquiring the necessary permission.
The video in question has since been deleted and a statement/apology has been issued by Exclusive Books but Abantu is not having it.
According to Exclusive Books, the footage that was used as part of their new “Africa’s Lit” campaign was procured from a 3rd party via their agency under a licensing agreement that they were unaware of.
— Exclusive Books (@ExclusiveBooks) April 25, 2019
After being alerted of the initial tweet containing the video, Abantu told Exclusive Books “we are coming for you”.
Exclusive Books stealing content from Abantu. Those opening shots are from Abantu Book Festival 2017. Abelungu and their deputies just won't stop stealing. We are coming for you. What the hell!
— Abantu Book Festival (@Abantu_) April 25, 2019
They followed up by alerting renowned author Zakes Mda that the footage in question was taken from an event of his.
“ATT: bra’@ZakesMda – The opening footage in this Exclusive Books vid, just before you speak, was stolen from Abantu Book Fest 2017. They never spoke to us, never asked nothing. They are using it to mislead the public. We wonder if you’re aware of this,” tweeted Abantu.
https://twitter.com/Abantu_/status/1121350868136341504
They went on to share further proof of additional footage that they allege had been stolen and used in the video.
https://twitter.com/Abantu_/status/1121318470069694464
https://twitter.com/Abantu_/status/1121322431006871553
https://twitter.com/Abantu_/status/1121320848353320960
Abantu further claimed that Exclusive Books has done this to them before.
We've been watching you stealing our ideas since 2016. They've gone all the way now.
— Abantu Book Festival (@Abantu_) April 25, 2019
When an Abantu follower suggested Exclusive Book credit them for their footage, they turned down the idea, claiming that they are “not looking to be integrated into coloniality”.
Nope. We don't want to be credited by these theives. We're not looking to be integrated into coloniality. We want nothing to do with them.
— Abantu Book Festival (@Abantu_) April 25, 2019
They have expressed their intention, in a tweet, to seek legal action.
Our lawyers are on it.
— Abantu Book Festival (@Abantu_) April 25, 2019
READ NEXT: Abantu Book Festival kicks off for literature lovers
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
