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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Celebrities devider TAPE presents first witness in TVJ injunction hearing; reclaims 'Eat Bulaga' YouTube channel

TAPE presents first witness in TVJ injunction hearing; reclaims 'Eat Bulaga' YouTube channel

Published Sep 9, 2023 01:13 am

The Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE), producer of the noontime show “Eat Bulaga,” presented its first witness in a hearing for a case filed by Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon, known as TVJ, and Jeny Ferre, against the company and GMA Network. 

On Sept. 7, the Marikina Regional Trial Court Branch 273 held another hearing on the application for the issuance of writ of preliminary injunction in a copyright infringement and unfair competition case filed by TVJ and Ferre.  

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The hosts of "Eat Bulaga" (Photo from TAPE's Facebook page) 
 

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Tito, Vic and Joey, also known as TVJ (Photo from "EatBulaga1979" Instagram account) 
 

Last June, TVJ and Ferre filed the case for “Copyright Infringement and Unfair Competition under R.A. No. 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, with Application for Issuance of a Writ of Preliminary Injunction.”

TVJ and Ferre are asking the court to issue an injunction to stop TAPE from replaying “Eat Bulaga” episodes, segments and audio-visual recordings done before May 31 this year and using the title “Eat Bulaga.” 

During the hearing on Sept. 7, TAPE presented an employee with the purpose of proving that Ferre was an employee of TAPE. 

Before this, Ferre testified in court on Aug. 31. De Leon and Tito Sotto previously testified in hearings held by the Marikina court. 

TVJ and Ferre, through their lawyers, filed their formal offer of evidence, consisting of exhibits filed before the court, which will decide on which evidence will be admitted. 

“A party makes a formal offer of his evidence by stating its substance or nature and the purpose or purposes for which the evidence is offered. Without a formal offer of evidence, and hence without a disclosure of its purpose, it cannot be determined whether it is admissible or not. This is so because it is the intended purpose of a piece of evidence which determines what rule of evidence will apply for its admissibility. A piece of evidence may be admissible if offered for one purpose but may be inadmissible if offered for another,” according to the Supreme Court.  

After TVJ and Ferre filed the formal offer of evidence, TAPE and GMA Network were given the chance to comment or oppose the admission of their evidence based on rules. The next hearing is set on Sept. 11.   

TVJ left “Eat Bulaga” and TAPE on May 31 and transferred to TV5 and are now hosting the show “E.A.T.” 

TAPE takes back “Eat Bulaga” YouTube channel 

Meanwhile, TAPE was able to regain control of the “Eat Bulaga” channel on YouTube after three months. 

The “Eat Bulaga” YouTube channel, owned by TAPE, was registered using an email account of a TAPE employee who has since left the company. 

The channel showed that its last video was uploaded on June 2 about “Little Miss Diva Grand Winner Althea Rueda Hongkong Disneyland Experience.”

Maggie Abraham-Garduque, TAPE lawyer, confirmed that TAPE is now in control of the “Eat Bulaga” YouTube account. 

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The YouTube channel of "Eat Bulaga" (Screenshot from YouTube) 

"Yes I confirm that TAPE, Inc. regained access to its YouTube account. You can now enjoy watching ‘Eat Bulaga’ again via YouTube. This is very important to us dahil gusto rin namin makaabot ang ‘tulong at saya’ even to our online viewers. So sa ating mga Kapuso, please don't forget to like and subscribe!” she said. 

As of this writing, the “Eat Bulaga” YouTube channel has 5.31 million subscribers and more than 21,000 videos with 1.5 billion in total views. 

TAPE earlier renewed the "Eat Bulaga" and "EB" trademarks with the Intellectual Property Office in the Philippines (IPOPHL). 

Related Tags

Eat Bulaga TAPE Inc TVJ Tito Vic Joey TV5 Network
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