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| COSN Member in a Press Conference |
God, in His beauty and inexplicable magnificence, after the creation of man, endowed him with natural gifts and talents. As civilisation advanced, men, began to fine-tune ways to make these gifts and talents more economically useful. From huts built with palm fronds, men through the use of their God-given talents, moulded and built edifices that everyone enjoys today. Same in other areas like science and technology, education, health, arts etc. While some were busy harnessing their talents and using them for the advancement of humanity, others embarked on sabotaging the hard work of these geniuses.
From Europe to the Americas, Africa to Asia, the norms are the same. A man’s gift makes ways for him and brings him before great men, wrote King Solomon in the Bible. So, what do you do when after harnessing your God-given talents amidst sleepless nights in the studio or study room in a tireless effort to produce a movie or market a song, someone infringes on your hard work? Is the system supposed to protect your intellectual property, and when the authorities default in their corporate responsibility, what do you do?
The above poetic narratives vividly capture the nuisances, brain drain and economic sabotage piracy has brought upon artistes globally, particularly in Nigeria. As we mark our 51st independence, let us reflect on the journey so far in the fight against piracy in Nigeria, and the turbulent journey ahead.
According to Wikipedia, copyright piracy is the unauthorised or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing on the copyright holder’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.
The Nigerian entertainment industry, vis-a-vis writing, has gained global prominence within the last three decades. Nigeria undoubtedly parades the best writers and entertainers in the continent of Africa and among some of the finest in the world. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart for instance, has garnered and attracted much attention globally. Wole Soyinka proudly became the first black person and first African to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature. In the music industry, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Osita Osadebe, Ebenezer Obe, Oriental Brothers, King Sunny Ade, etc took the Nigerian music genre outside the shores of this country. Though it didn’t add anything significantly to our national GDP, it portrayed Nigeria in the limelight and these artistes basked in the fruits of their labour.
The movie industry witnessed an unprecedented growth. From family TV dramas like the adapted version of Things Fall Apart, Play by Moonlight etc, the industry sky-rocked and has become the third largest movie industry in the world. This is a remarkable feet and must be acknowledged.
In spite of these impeccable scorecards, the entertainment and writing industries are in a deep mess. Pirates have highjacked these industries and everyone appears helpless about it. While part of the problem might be shouldered by the regulatory body that has defaulted in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities, the artistes also appear to pay less attention to this act of terror perpetuated by some unscrupulous illiterates in Alaba Market, Lagos.
The Cap. 68, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990 as amended by the Copyright Amendment Decree No. 98 of 1992 and the Copyright (Amendment) Decree 1999, recommended for collecting society and levy on copyright materials to manage royalties for artistes on behalf of government.
Section 32B 2 states that, “The commission may approve a society if it is satisfied that it is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. Its objectives are to carry out a general duty of negotiating and granting copyright licenses and collecting royalties on behalf of copyright owners and distributing same to them. It represents a substantial number of owners of copyright in any category of works protected by this Act and in this paragraph of this subsection, “owners of copyright” include owners of performers rights and it complies with the terms and conditions prescribed by regulations made by the commission under this section.”
Subsequently, the federal government in 2007 formally gazetted this Act, where the commission was authorised to grant licences to the Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) who are duly registered and qualified to operate under the Copyright Regulations. Accordingly, the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) placed its first advert on major media channels on December 29, 2008 calling for applications for CMOs seeking licenses to collect royalties for the artistes and re-advertised same on June 24, 2009 and August 27, 2009 with a deadline for approved application on December 31, 2009.
Rather than tone down the rising influence of piracy, the licenses granted to CMOs have further compounded issues in the industry. NCC has been regarded by some commentators as a toothless bulldog whose presence in the industry is hardly known even by popular artistes.
The duo, P-Square in a chat with the media recently displayed their ignorance. “We are getting the fight wrong because we are doing it by ourselves. We need to involve the government. LASTMA has been able to curb traffic in Lagos, and the EFCC has been able to curb corruption. So let government create a security outfit like that for piracy. If our CDs are selling for N500, they can take N100. The EFCC is fighting corruption because they know that something will definitely come for them anytime they win. We still feel that the body should be under the EFCC because it’s part of crime,” they said. This utterance clearly shows that they are oblivious of the existence of NCC charged with the responsibility of protecting the copyrights of artistes in Nigeria.
While answering questions on what he thinks about the role piracy plays in the industry, Kelly Handsome, a popular Hip-hop artiste in Nigeria, reacted thus, “Piracy has been in the country from the beginning. Those who are supposed to guard against this menace are not doing enough. So pirates distribute our music CDs with ease,” he said. “As you know, some Nigerians will always want to buy cheap things that will not last. So this fuels this illegal business in the country. We hope that things can be put in place to enable artistes like me reap the fruits of our labour”, he concluded.
Magnito, an upcoming artiste also opined that, “It is very simple; let the regulatory body do their homework properly so that those who suffer or pass through the stress to bring out something can reap the benefits.”
Charly boy, a renowned music entertainment guru and social crusader added another controversial twist to it. According to him, piracy as it stands in the entertainment industry could possibly be termed a common disease amongst Nigerian musicians, both old, the already established and even the upcoming ones who have all fallen prey to this terrible menace. He criticised the ignorance of some musicians who in the name of struggling for fame end up destroying the values that should have been upheld in the industry by simply giving pirates their CDs to compile. “In this sense the musician is the pirate himself. This is very bad for the industry and for all of us. What we should be thinking is how to establish a regulatory body that is competent enough to deal with these people and not to dance ‘alanta’ along with them”.
Speaking on his past effort, the social crusader said though piracy could not be utterly eradicated from the music industry, sighting a good example of the United States and China, he affirmed that he played a remarkable role in bringing the menace to its barest minimum, even though he had it tough with some people. “We did not take up arms against pirates, neither did we embark on a physical combat with them; it was rather a psychological warfare, well planned in the most civil way. Our approach was civil enough to raise enough volunteers instead of compelling them to give up through aggression. This obviously cannot happen now with the messy state of things in the industry. Too bad”.
On NCC, Charly boy suggested that the commission be scraped due to some obvious reasons. He emphasised that the purpose of its establishment had since been defeated since it is not competent to handle some very urgent and pressing problems of the industry. He stated that the leadership of the NCC had a very serious affiliation with pirates. According to him, “The present director-general is currently threading the line of his predecessor and consequently, he will not only be sacked but disgraced like the immediate past leader. I have spoken with the attorney-general on that already, maybe it’s time to take a walk to the presidency.”
On their part, NCC defended their role and affirmed their commitment to always combat piracy in the industry. Charles Obi, who is the director of Public Affairs of the commission, said that the new director-general is putting in place, mechanisms to combat this terror. He, however, emphasised that the war on piracy could not be won by the NCC alone, but rather, development partners in the industry must collaborate with the commission to bring some level of sanity to the industry.
“The new director-general, Mr Afam Ezekude, upon his appointment by the president earlier in the year vowed to bring sanity to the industry, Charles Obi said. “Already, the commission under his leadership has made some giant steps by storming major markets in Lagos, Enugu and Kano states where these heinous crimes of piracy are being perpetrated. The commission is not oblivious of the agonies and woes artistes, producers and writers face, but the new director-general will not relent until justice is served.”
What is the way forward?
As we mark our 51st independence anniversary, let us also ponder on the woe piracy has brought upon us. The United States’ entertainment industry adds more than $50b annually to their Gross Domestic Products (GDP). In India, the entertainment industry earns the country over $4b per annum as well. Sadly, same cannot be said of Nigeria as some unscrupulous elements in the industry keep reaping off the commonwealth unlawfully. Beyond the ritualistic exercise of closing down shops of pirates and arresting their accomplices, NCC and their development partners must fine-tune ways to reduce this evil to its barest minimum. No problem is insurmountable and the piracy menace should not be an exception.
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