The Rights of a Copyright Owner in Nigeria

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives legal ownership to the author or creator of any tangible work. The protection under copyright only extends to literary works, artistic works, musical works, sound recordings, audio-visual works and broadcasts.

One of the major objectives of copyright protection under the Copyright Act 2022 is to protect the rights of authors, by ensuring that they receive just reward and recognition for their intellectual efforts, and protecting their creative works from exploitation by others.

In Nigeria, although copyright is conferred on an eligible work at the point of creation, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) operates a notification portal called the Nigerian Copyright e-Registration System (NCeRS). On the portal, creators notify the NCC of the creation or existence of their works to enable the Commission maintain its records, and to provide evidence of the possible date of creation and other facts that may be necessary, should a dispute arise in respect of the work.

Exclusive Rights of a Copyright Owner

Copyright grants exclusive ownership and control over the original work, and a copyright owner has the right to restrict unlicensed persons from reproducing, performing, or publishing the work in any form, making or including the work in any cinematography, making copies or adaptations of the work, and distributing the work to the public for commercial purposes.

These are the exclusive rights reserved for a copyright owner, and any person seeking to carry out any of these acts in respect of a work protected under Copyright laws must first seek the consent of the copyright owner. The ownership of a copyright may however be transferred to a third party, such as heirs or successors, through an assignment, testamentary deposition, or by operation of law, who then becomes the “owner” of the copyright.

Copyright protection does not however restrict the use of copyrighted work for research, private use, parody, criticism or review of current events, provided the work and authorship is acknowledged.

Duration of Copyright Protection

The author of a work does not own his Copyright indefinitely. The author of a literary, artistic or musical work enjoys copyright throughout his lifetime and for 70 years after his death. In the case of films, sound recordings and other works, the owner enjoys Copyright for 50 years from the time the work was first published. When the term of protection expires, the work goes to the public domain and third parties are allowed free use.

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