By Alex Eyengho

This week, I’ll just bring to a close the discussion I started last week on the above subject matter. It is important that intellectual property owners in the creative industries like Nollywood know, understand and act on the two schools of thoughts regarding the protection of rights – copy right and development agenda otherwise known as copyleft.

Information at my disposal indicates that there was a manifest and marked hardening of Nigeria’s position at a recent Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). One of Nigeria’s delegates to the forum, Prof. Ruth Okedeji who works for the US University of Minnesota, was said to be developing copyleft arguments with a lot of talents.

Nigeria seem to have taken the leadership role in asking for mandatory exceptions outside the boundaries of the Three-Steps-Test that is enshrined in the existing copyright framework and ensures, in particular, that exceptions should only be introduced if they would not demonstrably damage the economic interests of rights owners.

This is surprising and worrying because Nigeria agreed to support more moderate language in the Audiovisual Performances Treaty concluded last June in Beijing, China.

Whatever happens, Nigeria and indeed the African group is pivotal in the power play between the proponents of copyright and copyleft by contributing with a firm but balanced voice over the past years. Any curious move, radicalism or a little to the left by this group at this stage might make the job of fighters for IP rights at WIPO more challenging than it is today.

Intellectual Property owners in Nollywood want copyright and not copyleft. This is one message Prof. Okedeji, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and other Nigerian delegates at international copyright fora should always keep in mind at all times. Copyright is about us – protection of the creative industry against criminal and unauthorized exploitation of our intellectual property.

This is why the international copyright forum being put together by the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP) and the International Federation of Film Producers Association (FIAPF), on October 23, 2012 in Lagos is a good platform for the creative industries in Nigeria to jaw-jaw with a view to shooting down this dangerous trend called copyleft.