COPYRIGHT LAW: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
LIGHTS, CAMERA, PROTECTION!
Before you set up your ring light as a content creator, roll out the cameras as a filmmaker, hit “publish” as a writer, or drop a new beat as a music producer, pause for a moment and ask yourself: “How do I protect the work I’m about to release?”
Many Nigerian creatives have been victims of intellectual property theft, Here’s a refined and polished version:
Many Nigerian creatives have been victims of intellectual property theft. According to NCC data, the country loses more than USD 1 billion in revenue each year as a direct and indirect result of IP violations. Filmmakers report losing up to 40% of their earnings, UNESCO estimates that 50–70% of Nollywood’s potential revenue is lost to piracy, and software piracy rates remain as high as 82–83% nationally. Nollywood alone suffers losses exceeding ₦7.5 billion annually.
To address this recurring problem, the law provides a powerful safety net, referred to as ‘Copyright.’ Copyright is the legal armour that shields your creative expressions, ensures you earn from them, and protects your reputation by recognizing you as the rightful owner.
Copyright exists as the legal armour that protects your work, ensures you can earn from it, and recognizes you as the rightful owner, safeguarding both your income and your reputation.
But the biggest challenge, especially in Nigeria, is not the absence of protection, it’s the lack of awareness. An online poll revealed that one in every twelve creators unknowingly lose revenue, credits, licensing opportunities and even legal claims simply because they never understood their rights.
In this issue of The Stellar Brief, we break down everything you need to know: what copyright is, what it protects, who owns what, how long protection lasts, what counts as infringement, penalties for violators, and exceptions that allow limited use. Consider this your creative survival manual.
What is Copyright?
Copyright is the exclusive legal right granted to the creator of an original work such as films, music, books, photos, art, and digital content, giving them control over how the work is used, reproduced, shared, or monetized. It protects expression, not ideas. Once your work is fixed in a tangible form, protection automatically applies. Copyright essentially says, “This is your creation, and the law backs you.”
Why Creators Should Care?
Every creative output has financial value. From YouTube videos and movie scripts to fashion designs and Instagram photos. Copyright ensures you can monetize your work through sales, licensing, streaming, and royalties without fear of exploitation. Without copyright, anyone can use your work without permission, profit from it, or even claim ownership.
A perfect example is the 2025 Nollywood case involving ‘Love in Every Word.’ The film was temporarily removed from YouTube due to conflicting copyright claims over the script. This resulted in financial losses, reputational damage, and legal tension, all because ownership wasn’t well-defined.
For creators, copyright isn’t just legal jargon; it’s your pathway to wealth, recognition, and protection. Think of it as a seatbelt: not always glamorous, but always necessary.
THE BIRTH OF OWNERSHIP
To be protected by copyright, a work must satisfy three pillars: ORIGINALITY, FIXATION, and CREATIVITY. Originality means the work must come from you and not copied. Fixation means it must be recorded or written somewhere: typed, filmed, saved, sketched, or written on paper. Creativity means there must be some intellectual effort.
Examples include film scripts, photos, choreography, software, poems, blogs, beats, and artworks. Even TikTok videos qualify because they’re fixed and original.
In University of Lagos v. Aigoro, the court held that a work qualifies for protection once it is expressed in a permanent form and shows some intellectual effort.
However, copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, discoveries, titles, or methods. So if you tell someone, “Let’s make a movie about twins separated at birth,” the idea is free to use. But the script you write is fully protected.
The moment your creative expression becomes tangible, ownership is born.
WHO OWNS WHAT?
Copyright ownership isn’t always as straightforward as “I created it, so it’s mine.” It depends on the relationship between the creator and the user.
1. The Author:
The person who created the work is the first owner. A photographer owns the photos; a songwriter owns the lyrics.
2. Employer and Employee:
If you create a work in the course of employment, your employer usually owns the copyright. For example, if a graphic designer creates a logo while working for an agency, the agency owns it; not the designer.
3. Commissioned Works:
This is where confusion happens. In Nigeria, unless a written contract transfers ownership, the creator still owns the work, not the commissioner.
Take for example: If you commission a photographer for a wedding, you don’t own copyright to the photos unless a contract says so.
4. Joint Authorship:
Where two or more people contribute to a work, both own it. But disputes are common. In Oluwole v. NTA, the court emphasized that authors must contribute skill and labour for joint ownership to arise.
Knowing who owns what prevents disputes before they happen.
YOUR RIGHTS, YOUR RULES
Copyright grants two major categories of rights: economic rights and moral rights.
Economic Rights
These let you make money from your work. They include the right to:
● Reproduce the work
● Distribute copies
● Perform or display it publicly
● Broadcast or stream it
● Adapt it into new formats
For example: A filmmaker can license a movie to Netflix, remake it as a series, or sell streaming rights.
Moral Rights
These protect your identity and reputation as a creator. They include the right to:
● Be credited as the author
● Object to distortion or misuse
● Maintain the integrity of your work
In Ani v. NTA, the court recognized the creator’s right to be identified as the author of his work even when NTA used the material.
Together, these rights empower you to control how your work is used, shared, monetised, credited, or stopped.
BUT FOR HOW LONG?
Copyright doesn’t last forever. It operates like a legal timer.
Duration in Nigeria:
Literary, musical, artistic works: Life of the author + 70 years
Films, sound recordings & broadcasts: 50 years from first publication
Photographs: Life of the author + 70 years
Anonymous works: 70 years from publication
After expiration, the work enters the public domain, meaning anyone can use it freely.
Why duration matters:
If you’re a creator, duration determines how long your family can benefit from your royalties.
Example: The songs of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti are still protected, meaning unauthorized commercial use is infringement.
After expiry, classic Nigerian literature like early works of Amos Tutuola falls into the public domain, opening them up to adaptations without permission.
The clock is always ticking, but it ticks in your favour first.
FAIR USE OR FOUL PLAY?
But, let’s tilt the lens a bit: when does your use of others’ copyrighted works become foul play? Many hold the opinion that they can use any work digitally accessible, and as long as they give credit, they’re good to go, but digital accessibility is not a license, neither does attribution exempt from lawsuits. We see this play out on our social media where creators utilise the work of others in creating their own content, or where they share photos of them taken by paparazzi and then attach the “credit: @” to indicate the copyright owner.
However, attribution is not a defence from copyright suits. Why? This is because the Copyright Act controls the rights of reproduction, translation, public performance, broadcast, adaptation, recording, film, and droit de suite (resale rights). You may notice that the “right to be credited” is not covered. Hence, even where credit is given, it may still amount to copyright infringement if permission is not gotten from the owner of the copyright.
Is that to say that giving credit is worthless? Definitely not. Where a lawsuit is instituted against a user, giving credit may be taken as an indication of good faith, a necessary ingredient for the copyright exceptions of parody, education, transformative use, etc. This is because it shows that you do not intend to accredit the work to yourself or use it for profit.
To illustrate, under the copyright exception of educational use, giving attribution is required under Section 20(1)(g)(h) for short excerpts or critiques. Other exceptions are contained in the full breadth of Sections 20 – 27 of the Copyright Act, 2022, which permit certain acts to be done in relation to copyrighted works as long as they are for research, private use, instruction, and are done in consideration of fair use principles (not too much of the work is to be used, the use is not to be commercial, the work is to be more factual than creative, and the use is not to affect the market value of the work adversely).
Understanding these principles is crucial for navigating the muddy pool of fair use or foul play.
COPY-WRONG: INFRINGEMENT & PENALTIES
However, where you end up on the other side of that moat, welcome to the arena of copyright infringement. What we mean by this is that copyright law confers exclusive rights to the copyright owner to reproduce, adapt, perform, modify, etc. a part, a whole or a reasonably recognisable derivation.
Doing any of those acts, without permission or outside of the scope of permitted exceptions, amounts to infringement. This is where being a copycat puts you on the wrong side of copyright law: copy-wrong.
Unfortunately, “copy-wrongers” do not go scot-free. Consequences include lawsuits, injunctions, payment of damages, delivery or destruction of infringing copies, criminal prosecution, fines, imprisonment, and even retrieval of profits. The law will always step in to dissuade illegal use of someone else’s creative works.
GUARD YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS
Flipping the lens back, the law will do its part in safeguarding your creations from exploitation; but what roles do you have to play?
One includes what has been repeated throughout this letter: fix your work in a tangible format. Only then can you claim protection under national copyright laws.
This local protection, however, may prove inadequate as copyrighted works are often used across territorial borders. This is especially true in today’s “global village.” Treaties like the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (“the Berne Convention”) and the Universal Copyright Convention (“the UCC”) offer protection across the world. Although the UCC has more member states than the Berne Convention, it offers a lower protection threshold as works are only protected for a minimum of 25 years after the death of the author, as opposed to the Berne Convention which offers a minimum of 50 years post-mortem. The UCC also requires less formality: a simple copyright notice containing the copyright sign, name of owner, and year of first publication (e.g. © IPLC OAU 2025) suffices for protection internationally. However, unlike the Berne Convention, it does not recognize moral rights, although individual states may.
Other treaties like the 1997 WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty are also viable alternatives.
However, before extending our global tentacles, let’s take note of these tips:
- Register: While not compulsory, it offers an extra layer of protection in the event of a dispute.
- Keep Records: Every step in the ideation process should be recorded. You never know when you might need to prove the work is actually yours.
- Utilise Written Agreements and Contracts: Always use contracts to clarify who owns what, how much they own, and for how long. Best advice? Get a professional.
THE FINAL CURTAIN CALL
Dear creatives, copyright remains your best friend. It protects your work, and punishes those who trespass on your rights. What do we do going forward then? Know it. Use it. Respect it.
Copy right. Do not copy wrong. Till next time, remain stellar.