Tito Sotto, Joey de Leon face TAPE lawyer on first hearing day over 'Eat Bulaga'

MANILA, Philippines — The court battle of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon against Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE Inc.) has started. 

On the first day of hearing in Makati City Hall of Justice this week, Tito and Joey faced TAPE's lawyer. 

TAPE executives, Jon Jalosjos and Dapitan Mayor Bullet Jalosjos were absent on the hearing as they were represented by their lawyer Maggie Abraham-Garduque.

"Sa dinami-dami ng mga salita alam mo naman ang legal terms ang bottomline ng pinag-uusapan namin (at) ang sinasabi namin dito ay copyright, sino may-ari ng copyright, ‘yung gumawa. Trademark? Meron pang cancellation, eh. Merong tinatawag na after 10 years nawawala," Tito said.

“But then again may mga nag-file ng trademark and trademark that’s goods. Iba ‘yung copyright. Ang tanong dito na sinasabi namin sa korte, sino ang may-ari ng pangalang 'Eat Bulaga.'

“They were saying that they (TAPE) are deceiving the people by saying na sila ‘yung Eat Bulaga. Puwede naman nilang ituloy ‘yung programa nila kung gusto nila pero palitan nila ‘yung pangalan nila, ‘yan ang punto namin!” 

Also included in the case is TAPE's usage of old footage of "Eat Bulaga."

“Hindi tama ‘yun at isa iyon sa i-finile namin sapagkat wala silang paalam sa amin katulad ng ginawa nila noong (May) 31 hanggang June 3, nag-replay sila nang nag-replay at isa nga iyon sa ika nga’y binabaril namin dito sa kaso na ‘to," he said. 

“Again let’s go back to deception, pinipilit n’yo sa tao o sa publiko na kayo ang Eat Bulaga, e, hindi naman kayo,” he added. 

Tito and Joey said that they are confident that they will win the case. 

"Very confident in God’s help, I’m sure the truth will come out. Alam ng Panginoong Diyos, alam ng taumbayan, alam ng publiko kung sino ang nag-imbento ng 'Eat Bulaga,' pangalang 'Eat Bulaga.' Kung iyon ang programa nila bahala sila sa programa nila, palitan nila ang title nila,” Tito said.

“O, ako naman maikli lang, basta kami nagsasabi lang ng totoo, ‘yun lang! Nagsabi lang kami ng totoo! Nagsabi lang kami ng totoo, bahala na kayo,” Joey added. 

For their part, TAPE lawyer Garduque said that the company owns the trademark of "Eat Bulaga" that's why they have the right to use the name, logo and old footage. 

"For the application for writ of injunction, plaintiff TVJ and Jeny Ferre want TAPE Inc. to stop airing the show with the title 'Eat Bulaga!,' its segment and the audio-visual recording of the episodes of 'Eat Bulaga!' prior to May 31, 2023 but TAPE Inc. opposed to this, saying that since TAPE Inc. has the trademark registration of the name and logo of 'Eat Bulaga!,' it has the right to use the name and logo of 'Eat Bulaga!'," the lawyer said.

"It has also trademark registrations of the segments. Plaintiffs do not have registration of the name and logo of 'Eat Bulaga!' either at the Bureau of Trademark or copyright of the IPO (Intellectual Property Office)," she added.

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