Tribunal de première instance de Libreville, jugement du 9 mars 2011, n°192/10-11 (WIPO Lex GA001-j)

Expediente y fuentes

Nombre

Tribunal de première instance de Libreville, jugement du 9 mars 2011, n°192/10-11 (WIPO Lex GA001-j)

Cita

Tribunal de première instance de Libreville, jugement du 9 mars 2011, n°192/10-11, Ebang Ondo Elvis c. Minko Mve Bernadin et Éditions L'Harmattan (WIPO Lex GA001-j)

record kind

judgment

Tribunal

Tribunal de première instance de Libreville

Instancia

national first-instance civil court

Fechas

Decisión

2011-03-09

Estado

judgment in first instance; public full text does not disclose an appeal or finality outcome

Resultado

Declared Ebang Ondo Elvis the author; prohibited Minko Mve from claiming authorship; ordered Minko Mve and L'Harmattan to stop distribution and withdraw the book under a 300,000 FCFA-per-day astreinte; ordered an expert-supervised accounting, with monetary claims deferred pending that accounting.

Resumen

The court attributed authorship of Manifeste contre les crimes rituels au Gabon to Ebang Ondo Elvis after examining the initiative, his personal writings and documentation, the defendant's preparation and corrections, witness evidence and substantive similarities. It enjoined the defendant from claiming authorship, ordered cessation and withdrawal, imposed a daily astreinte and ordered an accounting.

Antecedentes

After the death of his son, Ebang Ondo Elvis initiated an association and a manifesto on ritual crimes. He supplied collected conference and round-table materials, personal writings and 800,000 FCFA to Minko Mve Bernadin for editing/publication. Minko Mve claimed that he prepared the manuscript/typescript, made corrections and signed the production materials; the published book credited him.

Historia procesal

Ebang Ondo filed an initiating petition on 25 February 2010, registered 26 February 2010. An earlier référé order dated 25 August 2009 had ordered withdrawal but was not executed. The 9 March 2011 decision was rendered publicly, contradictoirement as to the other parties and réputé contradictoire as to L'Harmattan, en premier ressort.

Cuestión jurídica

Whether Minko Mve could claim authorship of the manifesto as a collective work because he performed editorial/formal work, rather than Ebang Ondo who initiated the project and supplied writings/documentation.

Criterio

The court attributed authorship of Manifeste contre les crimes rituels au Gabon to Ebang Ondo Elvis after examining the initiative, his personal writings and documentation, the defendant's preparation and corrections, witness evidence and substantive similarities. It enjoined the defendant from claiming authorship, ordered cessation and withdrawal, imposed a daily astreinte and ordered an accounting.

Fundamento decisivo

Even if a work were collective, the court reasoned that it must be disclosed under the name and direction of the person who initiated it. On the facts, Minko Mve admitted that the idea came from Ebang Ondo; the latter supplied the documentation and personal writings, and the similarities of substance supported attribution to him. Editorial corrections and stylistic additions did not justify Minko Mve presenting himself as author.

Límites

This is a first-instance, human-authorship dispute under the 1977 Bangui text. The published full text identifies neither individual judge/panel nor appeal/finality; it is not a GenAI, registration, autonomous-output, prompt, or current-2024-ordinance decision.

Relevancia

administrativo

Referencias relacionadas

Peso del precedente

First-instance disposition binding on the parties unless altered through review; useful only as evidence that Gabonese authorship disputes examine identified human participants and contributions. It supplies no holding on GenAI, prompts, originality of autonomous output or BUGADA declarations. Integración/votación: The published text does not disclose a vote, concurrence or dissent.

Fuente

Referencia

Tribunal de première instance de Libreville, jugement du 9 mars 2011, n°192/10-11 (WIPO Lex GA001-j)

Enlace

Consultar fuente

Autoridad

Tribunal de première instance de Libreville

Tipo

first-instance civil judgment; persuasive and nonbinding for atlas purposes; not AI-specific and not a registration decision

Tipo de evidencia

equivalent_official_full_primary_judgment_text

Localizador

WIPO Lex full text, paras. 21-49 (pleadings/procedure), 50-67 (authorship reasons), 68-82 (relief reasons), and 84-96 (dispositif)

Verificación documentada

Sí