Willie Revillame’s camp files new motion to halt hearing on ABS-CBN’s copyright infringement case

The camp of Willie Revillame has filed a new
motion that might delay the court proceeding on
the P127 million copyright infringement suit
charged against them by ABS-CBN.
The counsels of defendants Revillame, Wil
Productions, ABC 5 (also known as TV5), and
ABC 5 President Ray Espinosa informed Branch
66 of the Makati Regional Trial Court yesterday
(Dec 7) that they have filed a petition for certiorari
or prohibition at the Court of Appeals, in the hope
of preventing the trial court from continuing the
hearing on ABS-CBN’s application for a temporary
restraining order (TRO) against the TV5 program
“Willing Willie.”
The defense lawyers cited the Makati RTC’s alleged
grave abuse of discretion after presiding Judge
Joselito Villarosa has repeatedly denied or
deferred its rulings on the motions they
submitted. They added that as "judicial courtesy,"
the Makati RTC should first wait for the decision of
the Court of Appeals on the petition before
moving forward with the TRO hearing.
Last week, the camp of Revillame submitted a
variety of motions in order to bar ABS-CBN from
presenting its evidence for its prayer for a TRO,
including a motion to dismiss case, a ‘motion to
inhibit’ against the presiding judge, a motion to
defer the TRO hearing, and a motion to drop
Espinosa as one of the defendants.
After hours of debate between both parties, Judge
Villarosa, ruled last Thursday (Dec 2) to continue
with the TRO hearing but vowed to decide first
on the pending motions before deciding to grant
or deny the TRO.
ABS-CBN has since presented witness ABS-CBN
Business Unit Head for game shows Marilou
Almaden, who used side by side audiovisual
comparisons of “Willing Willie” and “Wowowee”
to testify to the infringements committed by
Revillame and company as stipulated in ABS-
CBN’s complaint.
These include the opening song and/or dance
number led by its host, the singing and/or trivia
game wherein contestants share their personal
stories and then showcase their talents before
playing the game, and the set design, stage,
studio viewers’ seats lay-out, lighting, music, and
camera angles of “Willing Willie,” which are
strikingly similar to “Wowowee.” ABS-CBN
argues that the expression and execution of all
these elements in a manner so similar to that of
Wowowee creates a similar 'look and feel'
between the programs, and is the basis of the
claim of copyright infringement.
Atty. Bienvenido Somera Jr, who is representing
ABS-CBN, said this new motion is obviously
another attempt to delay the hearing, which has
now stretched to two weeks. Somera said the
Court has already given both parties ample
opportunity to debate on the merits of the
motions filed, making the claim of “grave abuse”
by the Court unfounded.
Meanwhile, in order to resolve all pending issues
on trial court level, Judge Villarosa has decided to
cancel the scheduled Thursday and Friday
hearings on the ABS-CBN TRO. The honorable
judge said this is to give him time to finally decide
on the motions filed by the defense by next week,
so they won't be raising the same issues over
and over again during court proceedings.

Via push.com.ph