Ogungbe Barakat Ebunoluwa

INTRODUCTION

Intellectual property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of human intellect1 It is a form of chose-in-action, the intangible nature of intellectual property poses a threat on the protection and enforcement of these Rights. Intellectual property as clarified as by the World Intellectual property Organization is as follows “it refers to creations of the mind such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols, names and images used in commerce…the IP system aims to Foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish”2 . Intellectual property can be broadly categorised into two classes namely copyright and industrial property. Literal and artistic creations is sub-classified under copyright while patents, industrial designs, trade marks, trade names, Goodwill, utility models, plants, and animals varieties and so on are sub-classified under industrial property.

In Nigeria, intellectual property rights receives legal backing and enforcement, some of these laws include Copyright Act3 , Trade Marks Act4 , Patents and Design Act 5, Merchandise Marks Act6 . IP rights are also recognized internationally, some of these international treaties include Paris convention for the protection of industrial property (ratified in 1963), Berne Convention (1986), Patent law treaty (2005) , Rome convention (1993) and so on. All these above mentioned treaties have been ratified by the legislative arm of Nigeria following the provisions of section 12(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The intangible nature of intellectual property rights poses a threat on it’s development and sustainability. Some of these threats include but not limited to piracy of intellectual property, failure to review intellectual property law, absence of judicial precedents, qualified judges and legal practitioners in the field of IP. Piracy the the unauthorized duplication of goods protected by intellectual property law7 It is a cancerous cell which has contaminated the healthy cells of intellectual property. It affects mostly book publishing, music and movies industry. Nigeria had a prevalence of piracu as high as 82%, 83%, 83%, 82% and 83% in the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively by a study carried out by industry analyst 8 . This report is highly disappointing considering the fact that Nigeria movie industry popularly called Nollywood is the second largest movie industry in the world and contributes 5% to Nigeria’s GDP, yet Nollywood alone lost 82billlion Naira to piracy in the year 2014, and the Nigerian Copyright Commission destroyed 722,000,000 units of pirated works which was estimated at 6.5 billon Naira. 9

Another challenge which undermines the development of intellectual property is failure to review intellectual property laws. The world is developing rapidly thus, the law must be reformed to encompass all emerging innovations. The United kingdom’s Trade Marks Act of 1938 was re-enacted to give the Nigeria’s Trade Marks Actbof 1967. However the the trade marks act of 1938 has been reformed to meet new innovations. This is a form of setback to the development of IP.

Futhermore on the challenges of IP development, absence of efficient precedent and number of qualified judges and legal practitioners skilled in intellectual property knowledge. Lack of skilled personnels in this area of law has created a lacuna in the development of IP.

There is light after every dark tunnel thus, there are measures to ensure safety of IP rights. It requires hardwork to develop a concept however, it requires consistency to sustain it, hence, there’s a need to develop and sustain the world of IP. Some of these measures include of existing laws on IP to encompass new innovations emerging daily. I should no be taken with levity because it plays a vital role in the industrial and commercial development of a country. A typical example of this is the case of NCC v NWORE ANAYO 10 , who was guilty of being in possession of infringing copyrights work under punishable under SECTION 20(2) (c ) of the Copyright Act 11 , the defendant was sentenced to six months imprisonment with fine of 63,310 Naira. Between January 2011 and February 2012, NCC instituted 26 criminal cases covering various categories of copyright infringement namely, books, CDs, Software and broadcast.12 It is Crystal clear that the number of cases prosecuted within a year and one month is minimal compared to the number of Intellectual property abusers we have in the country. More of these violators need to be prosecuted and paraded on the media to to make others understand how wrong it is to sell others people’s creativity cheap!.

Futhermore, Judges should be well trained in the field of IP, likewise lawyers and experts such as members of the Nigeria Copyright Commission, established under the Copyright Act, Trade marks , patents and designs Registry and so on. Although there is an association for intellectual property lawyers known as Intellectual Property Lawyers Association of Nigeria (IPLAN), we need more well- seasoned practitioners in the field to help in the prosecution of IP infringement. Moreover, it is advisable to “catch them young”, thus it is important that the relevance of IP rights is taught in schools from the elementary level to tertiary level.

In addition, specialized IP courts should be established to hear matters of intellectual property infringement solely. Although at now, the Federal high court has exclusive jurisdiction to entertain matters of copyright infringement by virtue of SECTION 251(1) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. We can learn from developed countries, China for example established specialized IP courts in 2014 in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Just as we have National Industrial court to hear and determine matters arising from labour relations with experts and well-seasoned Judges learned in Labour law, we can also emulate same for Intellectual property.

It is important to note that the Nigeria movies industry popularly known as Nollywood is worth over USD 5billion13 , however for every legitimate copy if a Nigerian movie sold, nine others are pirated. Meanwhile, the movie industry contributes 5% to the Nigeria’s GDP, it was elucidated by the Export-Import bank that Nollywood generates about 590millikn dollars annually despite the fact that it isn’t an oil sector.

Also, literary works uploaded in the internet should be highly secured and must not be open for “copy and paste” option because most works are copied only to be sold by persons other than the author. It is commendable that few sites protect literary works uploaded and you can only access it if you download it or buy it, other sites should be mandated to do so. Also, students should not be permitted to photocopy textbooks as materials or hand outs for a course without proper authorization from the Author.

CONCLUSION

Let it be on record that IP has come to stay in our world today and it must be protected, develped and sustained to ensure that the greatest heritage of nation which is it’s citizens creativity is protected. It is worthy to note that the protection of Intellectual property rights is a pathway to sustainable development.

Ogungbe Barakat Ebunoluwa is the public relations officer II of Human Rights Chambers, University of Ilorin. She is a student of law and currently in her second year in the University of Ilorin. Barakat can be reached by mail via ebunoluwani1@gmail.com

REFERENCES
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property
https://www.mondaq.com/nigeria/trademark/788714/strengthening-intellectual-property-rights-and-protection-in-nigeria?signup=true
Cap C28, laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004.
• Cap T13, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004
5• Cap P2, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004
6 Cap M10 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004
7 http://wiktionary.org/wiki/piracy

8lhttps://www.mondaq.com/nigeria/trademark/788714/strengthening-intellectual-property-rights-and-protection-in-nigeria?signup=true

9https://m.guardian.ng/news/entertainment-industry
10
https://www.ip-watch.org/2012/03/21/nigerian-courts-step-up-against-copyright-piracy-18-convicted/suit no FHC/ABJ/CR/10/2012.
11 Cap C28, laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004.
12.

Nigerian Courts Step Up Against Copyright Piracy: 18 Convicted


13
https://m.guardian.ng/news/entertainment-industry