Creators unite to take control of Copyright Amendment Bills

In an unprecedented move, actors in the creative industry have united in their demand that the Copyright Bills presently being considered by the National Assembly must work for creators of intellectual properties and not for the users and exploiters of their creativity.

This came to the fore when the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment held a public hearing on two proposed bills for an act to repeal the copyright act cap c28 lfn 2004 and to re-enact the copyright act 2021 and for matters connected therewith, 2021 (SB.688) and the Executive Bill SB. 769 to replace the Copyright Law presently in operation.

The committee which is jointly chaired by Senators Francis Fadahunsi and Opeyemi Bamidele opened proceedings with an assurance that the committee called for the public hearing because it wanted to pass a law that serves the interest of creators of intellectual properties and therefore asked the stakeholders to make their input to the bills.

The Senate President, represented by Senator Abdulahi Sabi, the Deputy Chief Whip, said it was the intention of the ninth senate to bequeath to the nation a copyright law that will stand the test of time and improve a lot of the creators of intellectual property, adding that the public hearing offers the opportunity for the urgent need to investigate why the old law was not working well or at all.

He also stated that the bill has a crucial role to play and therefore the tradition is to seek the input of all stakeholders, reiterating that the hearing was to encourage private investment in the sector and to help the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to perform its regulatory and enforcement duties as the copyright law seeks to protect creators.

“It is sad to see people who have produced great films, music, and books suffering in their old age and begging for support. It is this situation that the new law intends to prevent,” he said, calling on stakeholders to help the National Assembly to come up with a perfect bill.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment and Joint-Chairman of the joint Senate Committees Trade and Investment and Human Rights, Judiciary and Legal Matters, Senator Francis Fadahunsi, said that the joint-committee was set up to collate views of all stakeholders for a better Copyright Law, a collaboration between the Senate and House of Representatives on the bill, the invitation of all views even after the public hearing within a reasonable time.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, Mr. John Asein, in his explanatory commentary on the Executive Bill said that the introduction of the executive bill is to cure the defects in the Copyright Act of 2004 and that it was the product of collaboration between the Commission and the Federal Ministry of Justice.

“The executive bill is built on the contribution of stakeholders so NCC will not take credit for it. It is a collective effort since 2018. It is to upgrade the copyright system with the mandate to protect creative works, reflect the best interest of Nigeria, and mandate enforcement. It is also to restructure the schedules to ensure easy understanding. It is a bill that creators will be happy to work with,” he said.

The Musical Copyright Society Nigeria Ltd/Gte (MCSN), represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mayo Ayilaran, when called to share his views with the committee, started by recalling a statement which he credited to a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, who said that the beauty of any law is in the implementation and interpretation.

He stated that nothing much was wrong with the present Copyright Act citing the experience of MCSN with the Act, that it took MCSN several years to get certain provisions of the Act to be appropriately interpreted by the Supreme Court while the Court of Appeal has also given interpretation and judgment on infringements and award of damages in which MCSN got an award of about Six Billion Naira in damages affirmed. He concluded that implementation and interpretation are keys to any good law no matter how it may be worded.

The Performing Musicians’ Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN) represented by its National President, Pretty Okafor, in his contribution shredded sections 29 to 37 of the Private Member’s Bill and Sections 54 to 62 of the Executive Bill to pieces claiming that sections 29 to 37 of the private member’s bill and 51 to 62 of the executive bill which is almost the same in wordings do not protect creators but the Digital Service Providers (DSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). He identified ISPs such as Airtel, MTN, Glo, etc, and DSPs such as YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram, etc. as heavy consumers of copyright-protected works and wonders why any law would want to shield them from copyright infringement liability. He concluded that this is absolutely unacceptable to Nigerian musicians and their counterparts worldwide.

The chairman of Audio-Visual Rights Society (AVRS), Mahmood Ali-Balogun, in his contribution advocated for the establishment of the Copyright Tribunal to handle infringement cases and other issues arising from copyright disagreements rather than going through the normal courts.

Other industry stakeholders who made presentations at the Public Hearing were the International Federation of Phonograph Industries (IFPI Nigerian Recording Industry), Intellectual Property Lawyers Association of Nigeria (IPLAN), Music Publishers Association of Nigeria (MPAN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Directors’ Guild of Nigeria (DGN), Society of the Blind and the Commission for the Physically Challenged among many others.

Creators at the public hearing include the Chairman of MCSN, Orits Williki, 2face Idibia, Prince Jide Kosoko, Francis Duru, Ejike Assiebu, Yemi Solade, Adeyemi Olubu, Sunny Macdon, Shola Sobowale, Funky Mallam amongst others.

The Joint Chairman of the Committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said that it was the first time that a public hearing in the Senate has pulled such a large crowd who sat through the hearing despite the uncomfortable environment due to the faulty cooling system.

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