SCOPE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION FOR ARTISTS IN NIGERIA

Once upon a time, Nigeria was to host a major international sporting event. In preparation for this, the Federal Government needed a logo for the event. So, entries were invited from artists from across the country for this purpose.Out of several thousands of entries received, only one drawing, which was believed to convey the message of unity, being the message of the event, to the whole world, was picked as the best.The author of the work was handsomely paid and was also celebrated on the national television.

When the competition took off, it was discovered to the shock of other entrants, that an entry different from the one proclaimed to be the best among the entries received was eventually used as the country's national logo for the international sporting competition. The author of the work felt so cheated that he decided to sue the Federal Government for infringing on his copyright in that work. Any success in sight for the aggrieved artist?

THE LEGAL POSITION
The provision of the law that readily comes to mind here is section 1(3) of the Nigerian Copyright Act, Cap. C28, LFN (2014) Vol. 4.It provides that an artistic work shall not be eligible for copyright, if the work is intended by the author to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by any industrial process at the time it is made .

In the scenario at hand, the aggrieved artist could only be read as acting upon understanding that his entry, if chosen, was only going to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied through an industrial process on caps, wrist bands, jerseys, score boards among others to be used in the competition.By the above-cited provision of the law, the aggrieved artist was deemed in law to understand that his artistic work as an entry, in the circumstances,  was not eligible for any copyright protection.

Thus, the only thing the artist could sue for in the circumstances was recovery of the workmanship for the work he had done since the work was the one that was eventually used.As for his decision to sue the government for infringing on his copyright in the work, he could not succeed for the above-stated reason.

Thank you for your audience.

See you tomorrow.