Dear Editor,
Lincoln Lewis and Nigel Williams are refusing to obey orders from High Court of the Supreme Court of Guyana handed down by Acting Chief Justice Roxane George, Justice Fidela Corbin and Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. In March of 2022, Nigel Williams and Lincoln Lewis represented by attorney Nigel Hughes lost an appeal to the Full Court to prevent High Court judge, Justice Fidela Corbin, from ruling that Lincoln Lewis and Nigel Williams infringed on the copyrights of Village Voice GY Inc. Chief Justice Roxane George and Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry of the Full Court ordered Nigel Williams and Lincoln Lewis to pay costs of $250,000 to Village Voice GY Inc. In January 2023, Justice Fidela Corbin ruled that Nigel Williams and Lincoln Lewis infringed on the copyrights of Village Voice and ordered them to pay Village Voice GY Inc. a total amount of $3,252,450.
Despite claiming to struggle to uphold the rights of people and the rule of law, Lincoln Lewis continues to break the law by refusing to pay $3,252,450 ordered by the High Court and $250,000 ordered by the Full Court.
Before taking the matter to court, Morris Wilson, owner of Village Voice GY Inc., made three attempts to get Lincoln Lewis and Nigel Williams to settle the matter amicably and expeditiously. After initially agreeing to attend each of the three meetings, the men did not appear at any of these meetings. Therefore, Morris Wilson had no choice but to take this issue to court.
Now that the High Court has spoken, Nigel Williams refuses to obey the High Court’s order. He claimed that he wanted to pay off his debts but when directed to communicate with the company’s attorney he did not follow through.
The High Court ruled that Lincoln Lewis and Nigel Williams infringed on the copyright of Village Voice GY Inc. and in doing so depreciated the goodwill of the company. The High Court issued injunctions restraining Lincoln Lewis, Nigel Williams, their employees, agents, or others from using, advertising, dealing with, selling, or distributing any materials bearing the word ‘Village Voice,’ ‘Village Voice News,’ Village Voice ‘Village Voice GY.’
Furthermore, the court order states that Lincoln Lewis and Nigel Williams or their agents must deliver to Village Voice GY Inc., all goods, newspapers, websites, domain names, sign boards, advertisements, circulars, notepaper, business cards, letter heads, stationery, labels, wrappers, photocopies, or other printed matter or digital media, including social media of Village Voice, Village Voice News and/or Village Voice GY, in their possession, custody or control. Yet they continue to refuse to hand over Village Voice News to Village Voice GY Inc.
On May 23rd, 2023, attorney Roysdale Forde, representing Lincoln Lewis, wrote to Village Voice GY’s attorney, Teni Housty, asking that Village Voice GY Inc. accept five monthly payments of $200,000 as compensation to satisfy the $3,502,450 amount owed to Village Voice GY Inc. After infringing on the company’s copyright, refusing to follow the court order, and refusing to return the newspaper to its rightful owner, Lincoln Lewis through his attorney has the audacity to ask Village Voice GY Inc. to accept 28.5% of the $3,502,450 judgment as payment in full. This is a slap to the face of Village Voice GY Inc.
Lincoln Lewis preaches one thing but does another. That is the definition of a hypocrite. Village Voice GY Inc. will continue to pursue this case aggressively and will not stop until defendants Lincoln Lewis and Nigel Williams pay what is owed and return Village Voice News to Village Voice GY Inc.
Sincerely yours,
Rennie Parris, CFA
Director of Village Voice GY Inc.
