The Copyright Act 2022: Innovations for the Creative Industry.
Introduction
The Nigerian creative industry has been experiencing a period of rapid change due to the emergence of innovative technologies and new forms of creative work. This has created unprecedented challenges for existing intellectual property rights, leading to growing calls for updated intellectual property laws. Copyright is a form of intellectual property right and is the exclusive right given to the creator of a copyrightable work to control the use of their work. Any unauthorised use of work made by a person who is not the creator is considered an infringement of the copyright. Copyright works include creative expressions and productions such as music, photographs, films and books. The old copyright act, which was enacted in 1988, did not contemplate and cover issues such as digitization, the internet, uses of copyright works online or even online infringement of copyright works. While international conventions and treaties attempted to close the legal loopholes brought about by the development of technology, they required domestication and ratification. Thus, stakeholders have clamoured for a complete overhaul of the old law to encourage innovation and creativity, promote the growth of Nigeria’s creative industries, and better protect the rights of copyright owners. In response, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (“NCC”), the regulator of copyright in Nigeria, launched a stakeholder review process to update the copyright act. The new bill was then taken through various law-making processes. After a lengthy procedure, the National Assembly passed the Bill for an Act to repeal the old copyright act.
Key Provision of the New Act
1. The Record Producer is now the owner of the copyright in a music recording.
The new Act has done away with distinguishing the author of a sound recording of a musical work from a regular sound recording. It identifies recorded music as a sound recording and provides that the person who arranges for the sound recording to be made. i.e., the producer is the author and initial owner of a sound recording subject to contract[1].
Under the old law, the initial owner of sound recordings of musical works was the recording artiste, i.e. performer, subject to any contract. This change has put our law on the same trajectory as other jurisdictions, such as the UK. Under the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988, the producer who creates the sound recording is regarded as the creator and the original owner of the sound recording, subject to any contractual obligations.