After the media circus on her exit from ‘Mentor II’ Rebecca’s management is preparing to sue the TV station

Rebecca Acheampong is picking up the pieces of a shattered fairytale. Her story plays out like a great movie with a teary ending. To begin with, her lawyers are preparing to file a suit against TV3 for a series of invasions.

When she granted this interview, the last thing on her mind was a spontaneous performance at an open mic session in a hang out she knew little about. She does an amazing rendition of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Last Night’ to a small crowd with such charming verve and flexibility.

Five minutes later she settles down to talk. Rebecca runs through snippets of her relocation to the UK for college and how she came for Christmas last year and hasn’t gone back since; all for the love of something she’d give up anything for: music.

Spooked out of TV3’s Mentor series because of an undisclosed HIV test and what her lawyer calls an immoral contract that enslaves whoever dares to sign dotted line, the 21-year-old vocalist is about to finish a great album to prove her critics wrong.

“I went into ‘Mentor’ thinking it was a year’s contract. Then I found out it was two years and even after it expires they [TV3] will tell you when you can leave. When you get a contract it doesn’t mean sign just like that, you can always negotiate. But these people didn’t want any of that. They just wanted us to sign; no questions asked. I made them understand that the contract wasn’t right and I was told I either sign or I get off the show.”

Elsewhere, artistes are accredited with being more commercially-minded and aware of what the contractual relationship with a production company entails. Same cannot be said for the TV3 Mentor artistes, claims Rebecca and her managers. They argue that the contestants, hungry for exposure and a piece of star glamour, do not bother getting into the details of the contract.

“What really pissed me off was that, Mark Okraku Mantey called me one time and told me once I’ve been able to afford a lawyer, I don’t deserve to be in ‘Mentor’. I felt very insulted because that meant we are supposed to be ignorant and so it’s easy for us to get exploited. All I was doing was seeking legal advice so I got my manager and my lawyer involved. It doesn’t seem to have gone down well with them. Later on, they said the contract only applied to the winner and the runner-up. But then I thought any of us could win so why draw a contract that literally traps me for as long as they decide.”

Rebecca’s manager, Kiki Banson told JIVE that he made efforts to discuss the proposed contract and its terms with TV3, but the producer of the show Sammy Adanu was insistent that Rebecca either signed or get dropped.

Kiki had been recording and managing Rebecca before she got on the show and for him, the next option is to seek redress in the courts, hence the suit they are preparing to file against TV3 for using his artiste’s image to promote ‘Mentor’, conducting an HIV test without full disclosure and for wasting their time.

Kiki raises objections to the section of the contract that defines that ‘entertainment industry’ as “mean and include but not limited to the legitimate theatre, films… etc, and all forms of commercial tie ups, merchandising endorsement and appearances. He is also not happy with the definition of ‘Territory’ in the contract as “the world”.

For Rebecca, her manager and lawyer, the terms are too wide and skewed to the advantage of TV3, leaving the artiste at a disadvantage.

Sections 2.1 and 2.2 grants sole and exclusive managerial rights plus extension options to TV3 without provision for prior managers. Section 3.3 stipulates that the ‘Mentor’ artiste authorizes the manager, fully and unequivocally to enter third party transactions and associated negotiations on behalf of the ‘Mentor’ artiste without restraint or objection, unless proven that such action by the manager [TV3] exceeds the given authority.

The contract already empowers the manager to define the scope of authority, which seems all encompassing and unlimited. The contract doesn’t protect the artiste in any of the clauses even in the case of termination, the manager still exercises the discretion to maintain or drop the artiste.

Standard industry commission rates for artiste managers are pegged at 15%. But the ‘Mentor’ contract puts it at 30%. There is no mention of the artiste’s royalties and how it’s calculated. Issues like mechanical rights and copyright royalty payments are not discussed.

One of the show’s producers, Gilbert Allotey told JIVE, the artistes were asked to have their contracts checked out by their lawyers. He also denied that Rebecca got dropped because she questioned the harsh stipulations in the document.

Rebecca also claims to have dropped out because TV3 wasn’t prepared to discuss the terms and that made her walk away from the show. Rebecca is currently putting finishing tweaks to her 12 song debut and her word to ‘Oseikrom’ was that of the defiant warrior she claims to be. “I’m going to make Kumasi very proud. Just watch”