The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, has endorsed the use of barcode in Nigerian movies and music as a
measure to protect intellectual properties from undue exploitation.
The Minister, who was responding to a request to that effect
by the Caretaker Committee of the Performing Musicians Employers Association of
Nigeria (PMAN) who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Friday,
advised the Association to also liaise with the Broadcasting Organisation of
Nigeria (BON), the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and other regulatory
bodies to ensure the success of the new measure.
"You asked that we make a declaration making it illegal
for NTA, FRCN and other radio and television stations from using any music or
movie, which is not barcoded...I think what we should do is to work through the
Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), NCC and other regulatory
bodies," he said.
Barcode is a machine-readable representation of data, which
provides information about the objects that carry such codes. In the movie and
music industry, It can be used to separate original works from fake ones, thus
preventing buyers as well as radio and television stations from patronizing
pirated works.
Alhaji Mohammed decried how trillions of Naira are being
lost through copyrights infringement and stressed the need to re-invigorate
institutional structures to block areas of leakages in order to rake in more
revenue for the government and also allow artistes to enjoy the fruits of their
labour.
He also enjoined players in the creative industry to buy
into the innovative ways the government is employing to fight piracy through
the Digital Switch Over in broadcasting.
"I think you also have to buy into the new digitization
programme of the Federal Government because that will be a more effective way
to fighting piracy than what we have today...... When you release your work
online then there are no CDs to pirate. If I want to buy I (must) pay and it
comes straight to me," he remarked.
The Minister said another advantage of the digital regime is
the multiplicity of channels to broadcast content, thereby creating more demand
for content.
He said the government is working to turn the creative
industry into a viable economy and appealed for private sector investment in
production and post-production studios as a deliberate effort to curb capital
flight to countries with hi-tech production infrastructure.
"If you can convince the private sector on the
viability of the creative industry, you are going to see change. What the
private sector needs are figures, data and balance-sheet," said Alhaji
Mohammed.
The Minister also sought the support of PMAN towards the
National Re-orientation Campaign of the Federal Government, tagged "Change
Begins with Me," which is to be launched soon, saying creative artistes
are influential members of the society who can take the message of change in
attitude to the various strata of society.
He agreed to partner with PMAN to organise a Creative
Economy Conference with a view to bringing on board all stakeholders to brainstorm
on the development of the industry.
In his remarks, the President of the Caretaker Committee of
PMAN, Mr. Pretty Okafor, said the music industry is the biggest employer of
labour in Nigeria with over 12 million people gainfully engaged.
Mr. Okafor said according to a recent study, the nation's
creativity industry is worth N15 trillion, but that over N10 trillion is lost
through national and global piracy.
He said government stands to earn N3 trillion annually in
both Value Added Tax and taxable income through the introduction of systematic
ways to track revenue accruing to the sector and curbing piracy.
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