Summary of the Nigerian Copyright Act LFN 2004

Copyright Act LFN 2004

Section 1

This section talks about what is eligible for copyright. They include literary works; musical works; artistic works; cinematography films; sound recordings; and broadcasts are eligible for copyright protection.

A literary, musical or artistic work shall not be eligible for copyright unless sufficient effort has been expended on making the work to give it an original character; the work has been fixed in any definite medium of expression now known or later to be developed, from which it can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated either directly or with the aid of any machine or device. Also if at the time when the work is made, it is intended by the author to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by any industrial process.

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Section 2

Copyright shall be conferred on every work eligible for copyright of which the author or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, any of the authors is at the time when the work is made, a qualified person i.e. a citizen of Nigeria or an individual or corporate body domiciled in  Nigeria.

Section 3

Copyright shall be conferred on any work other than a broadcast and other literary or musical works which are first published in Nigeria or sound recordings made in Nigeria. It shall also last for 70 years

Section 4

Copyright shall be conferred on any work which is made by the government or any international bodies and shall also last for 70 years

Section 5

Copyright shall be conferred based on international treaties of which Nigeria is a party to and one of the authors has to be a citizen of Nigeria or reside in Nigeria or if the work is published by any international organization of which Nigeria is a member

Section 6

Copyright shall be the exclusive right to control the doing of any of the following acts; literary or musical works, artistic works, cinematographic film.

Section 7

Copyright in a sound recording shall involve the right to control any of the following: direct or indirect reproduction, broadcasting or communication, distribution to the public for commercial purposes, rental lease, hire, loan or similar arrangement.

Section 8

Copyright in broadcasting shall involve the right to control any of the following: recording and rebroadcasting, transmission in television broadcast either in it original form or any form recognizable, distribution to the public. It shall also include taking of still photographs from the broadcast on television

Section 9

This section governs the broadcasting of works incorporated in cinematograph film

Section 10

Copyright in this act shall be vested in the author even if he has employed someone else to perform the work for him and if it has been made in the course of the author’s employment except it has been stated in a contract.

Section 11

An assignment and exclusive license of copyright must be put down in writing to have effect while a non-exclusive license may be oral or written. Persons will be deemed to be co-owners if they share a joint interest in the whole or any part of a copyright or have interest in any composite production, any license granted by one person will be deemed to have been given by his co-owner also and they shall share any fees equally.

Section 12

The author of a work (including his heirs and successors in title) has a right to claim authorship when his copyright is being infringed upon unless it was accidentally mentioned in a broadcast, where there is any derogatory action in relation to his work which is prejudicial to his honor or reputation.

Section 13

In this section, the authors of graphic works, three-dimensional works and manuscripts has an inalienable right to a share in the proceeds of any sale of that work or manuscript by public auction or through a dealer whatever the method used by the latter to carry out the operation. In as much as the work is original

Section 14

Publishers and printers shall keep a register of all works produced by them showing the full details about the author and the work; name, title, year of production and the quantity of the work produced

Section 15

Anybody who without the license or authorization of the author does anything controlled by copyright or imports similar works, exhibits in public any article that will infringe the work, distributes, offers for sale, has in possession master works or others has infringed the copyright in the work. An exception is when a work which has copyright is stored in the National archive as according to law and is reproduced in pursuance of that Act or Law.

Section 16

The Federal High Court exercises jurisdiction over actions for infringement of copyright or statutory duty which suit is actionable by the owner, assignee, or exclusive licensee of the copyright as the case may be and relief in the form of damages, injunctions e.t.c are rewarded.

Section 17

Account of profit is rewarded when the defendant did not know at the time of the infringement that the work had copyright protection. Anyone carrying on the business of negotiating and granting of licenses and collecting and distributing royalties in respect of copyright works or representing more than fifty owners of copyright in any category of works protected by this act without a certificate of exemption from the commission will be limited to the right of action.

Section 18

This section vests the ownership of any material that is designed to infringe a copyright in the owner, assignee or exclusive licensee of the copyright.

 Section 19

Here the Act elevates an infringement under section 9 of the Act to a breach of a statutory duty. In proceedings for infringement of the rights conferred by the said section 9 and 11 of the Act, the person whose rights have been infringed shall be entitled to an award of damages, injunction and any other remedies as the court may deem fit to award in the circumstances.

Section 20

Any person who infringes on the copyright of the owner in any of the aforesaid ways is criminally liable and may be liable to a fine for every copy of the infringed work or to a term of imprisonment depending on the level of infringement.

Section 21

The commission shall have power with the consent of the minister to prescribe any design, label, mark, impression or any other anti-piracy device for use on or in connection with any work in which copyright subsists. Any person who sells hires or rents has in his possession, imports, reproduces or counterfeits any work to the contrary shall be criminally liable to a fine and/or a term of imprisonment.

Section 22 Offence by bodies Corporate

Any corporate body which violates these provisions shall also be liable and proceeded against. If the infringement occurred with the consent of any official he also will be guilty but if he can prove that it was done without his consent and he carried out all measures to prevent such he won’t be guilty. Both criminal and civil actions can be taken simultaneously in respect of the same infringement under this act.

Section 23 Penalties for Making False Entries

Anybody who makes false entries under this act is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding #10,000

Section 24 Civil and Criminal Actions may be Simultaneous

The section allows the simultaneous prosecution of the criminal case and a civil one in matters of infringement of copyright. He cannot be made to face a civil suit until the conclusion of the criminal trial.

Section 25

In this section the right of an applicant in an action for the infringement of copyright to approach the Court vide an ex-parte application to enter upon the premises where the offending act is been committed was provided for.

Section 26

A performer shall have the exclusive control in relation to his performance the acts of; performing, recording, broadcasting live, and reproducing in any material form and adaptation of the performance. Performance includes a dramatic and musical performance and reciting or reading of literary act.

Section 27 A performance rights shall exist until the end of the period of 50 years form the end of the year in which the performance first took place

Section 28

A performer’s right is infringed by a person who without the consent of the performer does make a recording of the live performance, broadcasts live, performs in public, shows or play in public part of the performance for commercial purpose, imports the performers work into a country.

Section 29

The Act provides for the reliefs that may be awarded in favour of a performer whose copyright was infringed.

Section 30

An infringer shall also be criminally liable to a fine and/or a term of imprisonment depending on whether it is an individual or corporate body.

 Section 31

Expressions of folklore are protected against reproduction, communication to the public, adaptations translations and other transformations. When such expressions are made for commercial purposes or outside their traditional context, there shall be no right to control   private use and if to be used for public an acknowledgment of its title and source, educational purposes, illustrations and incidental utilization. The right to authorize these aforementioned rights is vested in the Nigerian Copyright Commission.

Section 32 Here, it provides that anyone that uses an expression of folklore without the permission of the Nigerian Copyright council will be liable to the Council in damages, injunctions and any other remedies the Court may make.

Section 34

The provision of section 30 provides for the establishment of the Nigerian Copyright Council. The commission shall be a corporate body responsible for all the matters affecting copyright in Nigeria. It shall also monitor and supervise Nigeria’s position in relation to international conventions, and advise government thereon.

Section 35

This section thus provides for the composition and functions of a Governing Board for the Council which shall consist of 25 members as listed out in the Act. The board shall adopt rules governing its procedure and method of operation.

Section 36

The commission shall have power to appoint any staff as it may determine and pay them salary, remunerations, pension, gratuities etc.

Section 37 There shall be a Copyright Licensing Panel which will listen to any application on compulsory license. It will consist of 5 persons, three of whom shall be members of the governing board and who have no pending issues before the panel. Any person not satisfied with the decision of the panel can appeal to the Federal High Court.

Section 38

The commission may appoint Copyright Inspectors who will enforce the rights of copyright and inspect a building or premise which he suspects infringement is being carried out upon, arrest anyone whom he suspects to be an infringer and exercise other powers that may be delegated from time to time. A copyright inspector shall have the privilege to the investigation, prosecution of defence in civil and criminal matters under this act. Anyone who obstructs the performance of his duties is liable for a fine or term of imprisonment.

Section 39

A collecting society may formed in respect of any one or more rights of copyright owners for the benefit of such owners and the society may apply to the commission for approval to operate as a collecting society for the purpose of this act. The commission shall approve a society if it is satisfied that it represents a group of owners, is a company limited by guarantee and carries out the duty of negotiating and granting copyright license and collecting royalties on behalf of copyright owners and distributing same to them. Anyone who without the approval of the commission purport to be a society will be liable to a fine of N1,000 for first conviction and N2,000 for subsequent convictions or/and a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months. Where it is a corporation, the fine is N10,000 and N2,000 for each day it continues. The commission may also establish collecting society for any class of owners. A material includes any object, equipment, machine, contrivances, or any other device used or capable of being used to infringe copyright in a work.

Section 40 There are levies placed on such copyright materials which shall be paid into the fund of the commission and distributed to the societies. The minister has the power to exempt any material from the payment of levy.

Section 41 This section gives the Minister responsible for copyright matters the power to extend the protection of the provisions of the Act to citizens of other countries.

Section 42

Here, the validity of an affidavit affirming that copyright exists in any work is sanctified.

 Section 43

The Act provides for presumptions as to the existence of a copyright in a work, the ownership of the copyright by the plaintiff and such other matter.

Section 44

The Act provides for restriction on the importation of any published literary, artistic, musical or sound recording.

Section 45

By virtue of this section, the power to make regulations for the purpose of carrying the provisions of the Act into effect is vested in the Minister responsible for copyright matters.

Section 46

This Act states that the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to deal with all cases on copyright.

Section 47

The owner of a copyright may give notice in writing to the Nigerian Customs Service to ban the importation of certain goods or copies of work which if they were made in Nigeria would be an infringement. The notice shall not exceed five years or extend beyond the end of the period for which the copyright is to subsist. This will not affect the importation of such copies for private and domestic use.

Section 48

A notice, summons or other documents to be served upon the commission shall be addressed and sent to the Director General of the commission. Any sum to be paid as judgment against the commission shall be paid from its general fund.

Section 49

Notwithstanding anything in any other enactment, no suit against the commission, a member or any staff shall be entertained in relation to the performance of their duties as according to the act unless the suit is commenced within twelve months and after three months of notice in writing with the details for the reason of the suit.

Section 50

The minister has the power to give directives of general or special character with respect to any functions of the commission under this act and it shall be its duty to comply with such directives.

Section 51

This section provides for the interpretation of terms in this act unless the context otherwise requires. E.g. adaptation, author, broadcast, building, cable programmes, choreographic work, etc.