A professor of commercial and intellectual property law at Babcock University, Prof. Dorcas Odunaike, has urged lawmakers to expand the 2022 Copyright Act to better protect performers’ rights in the country.
Prof. Odunaike made this call during Babcock University’s 56th inaugural lecture in Ilishan-Remo, titled “Scar in Copyright Protection: Harnessing the Potential of Performers’ Rights in Nigeria.” She disclosed that the challenges posed by rapid technological advancements, digital piracy, and emerging technologies such as deep fakes, which allow manipulation of performances, have created a significant gap in the Act.
She stated that if the Copyright Act 2022 is well implemented and updated to address new technologies, performers will have improved economic returns for their efforts, leading to a boost in the creative sector and in the nation’s economy.
“Nigeria is a developing nation faced with a lot of challenges that inhibit effective management of performance, some of which are identification and monitoring of uses, piracy and bootlegging, and digital exploitation of music and video, among others,” she said.
Her call to action comes as Nigeria’s creative industry contributes about 2% to the nation’s GDP and employs approximately 4.2 million people, including those in Nollywood, music, fashion, and digital media.
Prof. Odunaike pointed out that the proliferation of digital platforms has not only heightened the risk of bootlegging—unauthorised recording and distribution of performances—and deep fake technology, but has also created another level of challenge, as machines are not humans who can be held accountable for their actions.
“These further raise concerns about authenticity, consent, and potential harm to performers’ reputation or rights. Additionally, as content flows freely across borders, navigating differing related rights laws, especially in international infringement cases, becomes increasingly complex. With Nigeria’s creative sector believed to be contributing about N154 billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” she said.
The commercial and intellectual property lawyer noted that while the provisions of sections 63–73 of the 2022 Copyright Act mark an improvement in the rights granted to performers compared to the previous Act, performers’ rights are still regarded as secondary to authors’ rights.
“To address the ‘scar’ in performers’ rights protection, I recommend updating the Copyright Act to expressly cover performances involving emerging technologies to clarify rights; implementing effective enforcement mechanisms; and raising awareness among performers on IP protection, since digital performances represent more than just innovations in musical and theatrical performances.”
She also called for appropriate measures to enhance the review of licensing societies’ activities by an independent reviewer annually, and the inclusion of digital performance or performances in Section 63(2) “to prevent loss of revenues that may accrue through digital performance royalties payable in other climes. This will go a long way in enhancing transparency and accountability,” she said.
