Stakeholders in the Nigeria film and entertainment industry have agreed that better understanding of the current challenges in the global film industry will greatly develop the sector in Nigeria.
This was the general consensus by stakeholders at a seminar with the theme “copyright and consultation with audiovisual industry stakeholders” organised by the World Intellectual property organisation in collaboration with the Nigerian Film Corporation and the Nigerian Copyright Commission held in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.
The seminar was organised to educate stakeholders on management and protection rights such as copyrighting and licensing laws needed in the creative industry to produce a viable avenue to generate revenue for both performers and creators in the sector.
Donna Hill of the World Intellectual Property Organisation attested to this fact, as she described the film industry as a vital sector of any nation’s economy.
“When we compare it to mining, manufacturing you could see that in some of the countries their contributions to the economy is equal to or sometimes more than the traditional industries or what other countries tend to focus on like tourism.”
For Professor G.O Sodipo, a legal practitioner and expert in film making law, the understanding of the copyright law would assist film makers to appreciate the benefit of written contracts and how arts and creativity can be protected in all forms.
“Without copyright which is the right to stop other people from copying creativity, the basic thing is that if you want somebody to make use of your work try and have a written contract.”
In the words of Madu Chikwendu, of the Pan African federation of film makers, stakeholders in the film industry must work towards attaining global standard known for the profession.
“We need to sit down and find out how we can create these standards for ourselves. We have guilds and associations, so many of them probably the largest number in the world,” he said.
Stakeholders were further encouraged to always brainstorm with a view to fight plagiarism and piracy.
