BY: Kolade Adegbola
Copyright protection is the legal protection of the ownership of creative works to prevent theft of ownership, unauthorized usage or duplication. It is the protection of your intellectual property. Copyright is different from copywrite. The latter means to write copies which is a type of writing meant to persuade, convince or push a person into taking a desired action or accepting an idea. It is often used by businesses to convince potential customers to make purchases and for brand awareness. Copyright on the other hand is the legal protection for all kinds of creative works.
Copyright protection in Nigeria is regulated by the Copyright Act, 2022. The regulatory authority for the administration of copyright protection in Nigeria is the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC). That is the body saddled with the responsibility of the administration of and ensuring compliance with the Copyright Act, 2022. The Act protects creative literary works, musical works, artistic works, audiovisual works, sound recordings and broadcasts. Such creative works can be registered with the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC). Registration is not a requirement for copyright protection. Any created work protected by the Copyright Act is, upon creation, protected by the Copyright Act, 2022. However registration gives regulatory evidence of ownership.
Rights Protected Under the Copyright Act, 2022.
The Act guarantees exclusive rights and protection of creative works in Sections 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Act grant several exclusive economic rights depending on the type of work. The general rights include the right to reproduce the work, publish the work, perform the work in public, distribute the work, broadcast the work, make the work available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a way that members of the public can access the work from a place and at a time independently chosen by them, and make adaptations of the work.
The Act further provides for other exclusive rights depending on the type of artistic work. These rights are listed below:
- Literary and musical works: The exclusive right to perform the work in public, produce, reproduce, perform or publish any translation of the work, and make any audiovisual work or a record in respect of the work.
- Artistic works: The exclusive right to include the work in an audiovisual work.
- Audiovisual works: The exclusive right to cause the audiovisual work that consists of visual images to be seen in public and of sounds to be heard in public, make any copy of the soundtrack of an audiovisual work, and make a translation of the audiovisual work or any part.
- Sound recording: The exclusive right to distribute to the public for commercial purposes, copies of the sound recording either by way of rental, lease, hire, loan or similar arrangement and distribute to the public for commercial purposes; or copies of the work through sale or other transfer of ownership provided the work has not been subject to distribution authorised by the owner.
- Broadcasts: The exclusive right to the fixation of the broadcast, reproduction of a fixation of the broadcast, adaptation of a fixation of the broadcast, and distribution of a fixation of the broadcast or copies for commercial purposes by way of rental, lease, hire, loan or similar arrangement. With respect to the copyright in a television broadcast, the right also includes the right to control the taking of still photographs from the broadcast.
Section 14 of the Act recognises the moral right of authorship and integrity for works protected by copyright.
Works Ineligible for Copyright
There are works that are not qualified for copyright, examples include works that fails to establish originality and fixation in a medium are not eligible for copyright. Section 3 of the act has a list of works not eligible for copyright. They include: ides, procedures, processes, formats, systems, methods of operation, concepts principles, discoveries or mere data, official texts of legislative or administrative nature and their official translations, official state symbols, and insignia which include flags, coat of arms, anthems and bank note designs.
Registration of Copyright
Section 87 of the act requires the Nigerian copyright Commission (NCC) to keep a register of copyrighted works, hence the registration of copyright with the NCC is an available option. However, it is voluntary. This is because, registration does not confer copyright on awork. Section 4 of the Act, every original creative work fixed in a medium is by default protected by copyright. Without any formality. There are no consequences for non-registration.
However, registration confers regulatory approval of the originality and fixation of such created work. Section 43 of the act confirms that registration of copyright is an uncontestable proof of the name of the author of such work, name of publisher or producer of such work, that the name of the work is the work of such publisher or producer, that even in the death of the author, the work is an original work, and that the work was published or produced at the date and time appearing in the wok that it was produced.
Ownership of Copyright
Section 28 of the Act states the ownership of a creative work is vested in the author of such work. However, the act specifies what ownership means for some type of creative work.
- In an audiovisual work, ownership is vested in the person who made the arrangement for such audiovisual work, unless there is a valid contract to the contrary entered into by such person.
- In a collective work, ownership is vested in the person responsible for the selection and arrangement of the collective work. Section 29 says places ownership in the person on whose initiative or direction the collection was created
- In a photographic work, ownership is vested in the person who took the picture.
- In a sound recording, ownership is vested in the person who made the arrangements for the making of the sound recording.
- In a broadcast transmitted, ownership is vested in the person who mad the arrangement for the making of such broadcast, or by whom such broadcast is made from any country.
Conclusion
This article seeks to educate a reader about copyright protection and registration in Nigeria. This is particularly important for creators of creative works. Copyright education is one of the first necessities for any creator of a creative work just starting out. Then, registration of their creative work. Copyright registration, though not compulsory, is very necesary in today’s world of content creation. The benefits of copyright registration matters, especially when the copyright is contested via litigation, which is situation that can swing either way. The need for creators to register their copyright is more intense now with the recent wave of image generating, video generating and sound generating artificial intelligence tools, that can duplicate any human creative work, with excellence above human ability.
