NIGERIA / COPYRIGHT / FOLKLORE

A critical evaluation of the provisions of Nigerian Copyright Law on folklore

Enyinne Sodienye Nwauche

IIC, Vol 33 No 5, 2002

Nigeria's Copyright Act of 1990 contains provisions on the protection of "expressions of folklore"; and the author of this article subjects the provisions to critical evaluation. He reproduces the definition of folklore in the Act: essentially, a group-oriented and tradition-based creation of groups or individuals reflecting the expectation of the community as an adequate expression of its cultural and social identity, its standards and values as transmitted orally, by imitation or by other means, including (a) folklore, folk poetry and folk riddles, (b) folk songs and instrumental folk music, (c) folk dances and folk plays and (d) production of folk arts [such as paintings, carvings, pottery andt textiles]. The Act protects these expressions of folklore against reproduction, performance and adaptations; but persons wishing to do any of the prohibited acts must obtain the consent of the Nigerian Copyright Corporation. Any use of expressions of folklore without the consent of the Commission exposes the user to civil and criminal liability. The author criticizes the provisions of the Act on several counts, partly on account of the unsatisfactory equation of folklore protection and copyright protection, resulting in anomalies of duration and ownership: folklore protection ought perhaps to be sui generis. As to the machinery envisioned in the Act, there are certain loose ends: whether, for example, communities should be allowed to benefit economically from the protection afforded by the Act and what criteria the Copyright Commission should apply in giving its consent to otherwise prohibited acts. The author suggests that the Commission should establish a special unit on folklore rights; that it should identify the communities responsible for creating expressions of folklore; that it should determine royalties due to these communities; that it should set time limits and a duration for the grants of consent; and that it should further define "adaptations". The author concludes that, "if the Commission is to be successful in the execution of its mandate, it must institute a simple, attractive and efficient administrative framework". [20079]