On copyright laws and practices in Nigeria

On copyright laws and practices in Nigeria

I am worried sick about what exactly constitutes copyright infringement especially in motion pictures. Some days ago in a discussion with my wife, I highlighted many things I feel are copyright infringements.

1. The fact that you have access to take a camera shot of someone or someone’s work in a public domain, does not automatically guarantee you access to use it in a commercial way.

2. A prominent example is the use of images and pictures in a blog. Many times, I feel we do not realize that some of these works have been copyrighted; hence its use is limited being subject to copyright laws.

3. Our wedding video was handed to us few weeks after the ceremony and on inserting into a DVD player, a popular Nigerian wedding track boozed out of the speaker. I was shocked. I asked many questions such as

a. Did he get a right to use this track?

b. Does he even understand that this may be an infringement?

c. Did he obtain our permission to use the track in our video and many others?

4. In many home videos shown on cable TV networks, brand names and trademarks of prominent brands such as bottled water, other soft drinks, laptops, and other gadgets are blurred in an attempt not to assume endorsement and advertisement, yet sometimes I see the flagrant display of for instance a public place, an ecclesiastical building etc. Is it right?

I do not want to go off from the object of this platform. When does the use of a work constitute an infringement? Here, I will try to explain few things I know and assume about copyrights.

First, I am writing about Creative Commons. They sure have some custom-made permissions, which I may not discuss in detail, but will sure try to explain in a later post.

Second, many publishers such as Emerald, Elsevier, Sage, Wiley, Springer, etc. give the opportunity to “use” and “share” resources under varying terms and conditions. The responsibility fairly rests on the reader to find and know what to use, how, when and where. I will also explain that in more detail later.

Conclusively for this post, note that your good intentions may earn you the worst harm. Be careful and never assume. If you are in doubt, ask!!!