Mabijo comic cartoonist Tebogo Motswetla has warned the public of fake usages of the Mabijo trademark and brand on Facebook.Motswetla said that it has come to his attention that two Facebook pages known as "Mabijo Jokes" and "Mabijo Arrives" have been created without his consent. The two pages contain the Mabijo character and according to Motswetla, they consist of vulgar jokes, which he said infringe the Mabijo brand doctrine and moral values. He said in a press realease that the unauthorised use of the Mabijo trademark is unlawful since it has been copyrighted and could land the perpetrators in court.
"Lately Facebook pages have been created under the brand which distributed dirty jokes. It is tarnishing my comic brand because it will reflect (a wrong picture) that I am the one doing it." He emphasised how he does not want to share his comic brand and brand name any how because he would in the end bear the consequences as the brand owner. Motswetla revealed that in the meantime his company Mabijo Productions is building a series of television-animated episodes. He further disclosed that they are eyeing the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for airplay with Botswana Television (Btv) already in his good books. Although eBotswana is still under negotiations, the 10 episodes animated series is scheduled to start broadcasting by the end of the year. "We felt it was high time we caught up with technology as well. We started editing the animation long back and we are at a point where we can send it for airing. We want it to be a continuous thing so we are way ahead in production and the standard," Motswetla said.
