THE IP JOURNAL'S REPORT ON THE INTENSIVE TRAINING ON COPYRIGHT LAW AND PRACTICE

The Intensive Training on Copyright Law and Practice took place from the 16th to the 17th of April, 2013 at the Elephant Cement House, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. The Training was organised by the Nigerian Copyright Institute, the training and capacity building arm of the Nigerian Copyright Commission. The training was well attended by legal practitioners, representatives from some copyright agencies & the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Music Managers and Publishers. It was also covered by notable media houses.

Facilitators include
- Mr. John O. Osein, Director of NCI
- Mr. Chris Nkwocha , NCC
- M.D.A Ojo, NCC.
- Obi Ezielo, Head of Prosecution, NCC



Mr. John Osein kicked off the training with a session on ‘the nature of Copyright; and later on ‘A Forensic Examination of Recent Copyright Decisions in Nigeria’. He analysed the several attempts at defining Copyright and he defined Copyright simply as the exclusive right granted to the owner of a work by law to exploit the work.He listed the basic characteristics of Copyright which include: intangibility, statute-conferred, fixed duration etc. He further gave an overview of the Copyright Act, analysing the various sections and its contents and later explained the prerequisites for copyright protection: the work must first and foremost qualify as a work so properly called, and must also fall under the list of works listed under the Act which are Literary Works, Musical Works, Artistic Works, Cinematograph films, Sound Recordings, and Broadcasts. Neighbouring Rights cover Expressions of Folklore and Performances. Further, the work must also be fixed in a medium where it can be perceived, retrieved and reproduced. Recent Copyright decisions, exceptions to rights under the Act and Infringement were all examined.

Mr. John O. Asein continued his sessions on the second day, analysing the exceptions to rights and defences under the Act. He stated inter-alia that for one to succeed in using Fair dealing as a defence, he must be able to show that he has little or no commercial gain from the exploitation of the work. The more commercial it is, the less likely one can succeed in using that as a defence.



The second Facilitator, Barrister Nkwocha later gave a presentation on ‘the Regulatory Framework/ Administrative Schemes of the Nigerian Copyright Commission’. He emphasised that the essence of the Regulatory Schemes of the NCC is to ensure that owners and users of copyright works comply with the provisions of the copyright law; to ensure that right owners earn reasonably from their creative endeavours; and to allow the public have access to copyright works for their enjoyment.
S. 46 of the Copyright Act allows the NCC to make regulations/ schemes to regulate the operations in industries. The Regulatory Schemes of the Commission include the Video Rental Scheme, Hologram Scheme, Copyright Notification Scheme and Optical Discs Regulations.

After, an in depth analysis of the schemes, It was concluded that virtually all the Regulatory Schemes of the commission require amendments to make provision for recent trends of technology and the alarming rate of piracy in the country. The facilitators confirmed that such process for amendments is already on-going.



Barrister M.D.A Ojo took the fourth session on ‘Rights Management and Contractual Issues in the Copyright Industry’. He commenced by stating that the essence of exclusive rights granted by copyright law is to enable the author or right owner derive economic benefit from exploitation of a work by third parties; thereby necessitating the existence of effective protection and management measures. He gave an exposition on the Rights Management options available to an author: direct management by the owner/agent/licensee/ assignee of whole or part or right; and collective management.

He enumerated some of the challenges of rights management in the copyright industry which include low level of awareness, insufficient professional support, impact of new technology, challenges in the law enforcement system etc. It was recommended that there should be more awareness and trainings for lawyers and other stakeholders in the copyright industry, there should be better collective management platform and infrastructural development to meet up with the demands of new environment etc.



Barrister Obi Ezeilo taught the last two sessions on ‘Copyright Enforcement and Piracy Issues’ and also ‘An Appraisal of Copyright Practice in Nigeria: the Role of a Legal Practitioner’. He started with the issue of infringement as provided for S.15 of the Copyright Act. It is not the quality of the infringed work that matters, it’s the reproduction itself. An action can be instituted by the owner, an assignee and an exclusive licensee. Actions are criminal where the infringing works are used for commercial purposes and civil when they are used otherwise; both can be taken up simultaneously. Remedies available include damages, injunction, account of profit, other proprietary reliefs and conversion of infringing works or equipments used as the author’s property.

As regards the role of the legal practitioner, he stated that they include offering professional advice to owners, drafting agreements, contracts, and licences; handling issues of rights management and clearance; ensuring effective protection of copyright, handling enforcement of civil/criminal rights etc.He emphasised that copyright is a specialized area of legal practice that requires acquisition of specialised knowledge of national laws and international treaties; therefore legal practitioners should ensure to engage in specialized trainings and tap into several international resources to expand their knowledge.

He concluded by stating that the copyright industry is an industry with about the highest growth rate in our economy presently. The growth of other industries that rely on copyright like IT industry also increases the demand for copyright practitioners. The industry thus needs the support of effective industry practitioners such as legal practitioners.



Overall, the training was very enlightening and educative. I commend the Nigerian Copyright Commission for organising it and look forward to better programmes in the nearest future. It is hoped that more legal practitioners and other stakeholders in the IP industry will make use of such opportunity. There is a move going on in the IP sector, ensure to properly align yourself! And of course, Keep on being creative!

©May, 2013 by Lola Agbaje-Williams

Lola Agbaje-Williams is a Legal Practitioner based in Nigeria who is passionate about Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law. You can contact her via her email address: lolaagbajewilliams@gmail.com or Follow on her on Twitter: @lolawilliams02