If the massive participation of film industry
practitioners in the stakeholders’ meetings organized by Audio Visual Rights
Society of Nigeria (AVRS) in Kano and Abuja, penultimate week, is anything to
go by, then the campaign for respect for intellectual property in Nigeria could
very well have assumed a more serious nationwide dimension.
Seeking to enlighten stakeholders in the film
industry on the nature, purpose and operations of AVRS, as well as their rights
and obligations to the Society, and with a view to establishing cordial working
relationships with various stakeholders in the film industry, AVRS – Nigeria’s
sole approved collective management organization for cinematograph films – had
in February kick-started the enlightenment campaign series in Lagos, with the
train moving to Asaba and Benin in April after the general elections.
The widely reported success stories of earlier
events, as mentioned above, may have re-energized the interest of Kano-based
film makers who turned out in their numbers to attend the Forum at Ni’ima Guest
Palace Conference Centre, Old GRA, Kano, where the event was hosted.
Frontline film maker and chairman of AVRS, Mahmood Ali-Balogun,
in a familiar order of proceedings, opened the session with an introductory
speech tracing the history of the formation of AVRS, its registration with the
Corporate Affairs Commission as a company limited by guarantee, and its
eventual approval by the Nigerian Copyright Commission as a collective
management organization. He remarked that the power of any film medium is
largely based on its outreach and underscored his recognition of the wide
viewership of Hausa films across West and East Africa in particular, which
obviously influenced DSTV to open Africa Magic Hausa as a dedicated channel. He
commend the industrious spirit of Kano-based film makers, particularly for
their consistency in making films in an indigenous African language, and enjoined
them to formalize their membership of AVRS in order to enjoy the benefits of
residual income guaranteed by annual payment of royalties.
The Kano State Commissioner for Commerce and
Industry who is also a notable stakeholder and president of MOPPAN, Kano State,
Professor Umar F. Jibril, commended the Federal Government for the approval of
AVRS which he described as the best thing to happen to Nigeria’s film industry
since independence. In his words, “The Nigerian film industry has grown through
various stages since our political independence in 1960, and this includes
various levels of public exploitation of our creativity, especially with the
advent of Nollywood. Having endured this wanton exploitation for decades, while
watching our counterparts in other parts of the world benefit from royalties
paid on their copyright works, it was a heart-warming development when the news
of the approval of AVRS by Nigerian Copyright Commission broke. Make no mistake
about it, nothing can boost national productivity from the angle of creative
industries more than a reliable intellectual property protection system to
ensure that our labours, in the long run, will not be in vain.”
Also speaking, the North-West Zonal Manager of
Nigerian Copyright Commission, Alhaji Hassan Usman who represented the
Director-General, Mr. Afam Ezekude, reiterated the commitment of NCC towards
total eradication of intellectual property rights abuse in Nigeria. He however
called for patience, saying that the battle against piracy is being fought on
various fronts with a gradual and painstaking approach for best results.
According to him, “piracy is a cancer that has unfortunately metastasized in
the body of our creative industries, and as such cannot be stamped out
overnight. The NCC is doing its best to eradicate the cancer and would continue
to partner with active stakeholders to make more progress.”
Directors of AVRS, Prince Jide Kosoko, Mr. Fidelis
Duker and Dr. Ahmed Sarari who anchored the event, also called on their
colleagues in Kano to show stronger commitment to the anti-piracy struggle by
supporting AVRS in its bid to get commercial users of audio visual works to pay
for their usage.
The interactive session provided participants with
the opportunity to ask questions and address their concerns about membership,
licensing, assignment of rights and the reliability of reciprocal
agreements. The general manager of AVRS,
Ms. Eme Akiba-Eyo, a legal practitioner, joined the chairman and directors to respond
to the issues raised, with detailed explanation of national and international
legal frameworks of collective management.
The Abuja Forum, held at Merit House, Aguiyi-Ironsi
Street, Maitama, was equally well-attended by stakeholders and exhaustively
interactive. Anchored by popular Nollywood actor, Francis Duru, it provided an
auspicious platform for film makers to engage AVRS officials, as well as NCC
officials present, on national response strategies against movie piracy. Mr.
Mike Akpan, deputy director of NCC, assured participants that the NCC is
adopting new measures in the fight against piracy. According to him, “as new
technologies evolve and piracy shifts more and more from physical to digital,
the NCC has articulated a novel approach to nip digital piracy in the bud. This
will soon take effect in collaboration with approved collective management
organizations in the creative industries.”
Present at the Kano and Abuja events were directors
of AVRS earlier mentioned, including Mr. Andy Amenechi who attended the Abuja
forum; Malam Mikail Isah Bin Hassan, president of Professional Film Directors
Association, Kano; Abdullahi Sani, president of Arewa Film Makers Association;
Shehu Hassan Kano, Chairman of ‘Kannywood’ Guild of Actors; and Sani Abubakar,
president of Hausa Film Distributors Association of Nigeria. Others are Prof.
Umar F. Jibril, Kano State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry and president
of MOPPAN; Alh. Hassan Usman, North-West Zonal Manager, NCC; Umar Fage,
Principal Education Officer, National Film and Video Censors Board, Kano; M.U.
Sulaiman, HOD Prosecution, NCC, North-West Zone, and Sani Ahmed, Principal
Education Officer, NCC, North-West Zone. In Abuja, top Nollywood practicioners
present included Charles Novia, Francis Duru (erstwhile chairman of Actors
Guild of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter), Frankwhite Nzeh, chairman, Association of
Movie Producers, Abuja; Time Bello, Chairman, Screen Writers Guild of Nigeria,
Abuja; Onwurah Agility, veteran actor Victor Decker, Zenith Abubakar, Paul T.
Apel and Enitan Okediji. The director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission,
Afam Ezekude, was represented by Barr. Mike Akpan.
Having successfully wrapped up its stakeholders’
enlightenment campaign in active movie production hubs across the country, with
its numerical strength on the increase, AVRS chairman, Mr. Ali-Balogun while
speaking with newsmen in Abuja, hinted that AVRS would focus more attention on
commercial users of audio visual works in the weeks ahead, as it plans to
commence with actual licensing activities in line with its approval mandate. He
however stressed that the enlightenment activities for its various publics is a
continuous process that the AVRS board and management are committed to in order
to mitigate the effect of piracy on right owners.
3 Comments
The creative minds are doing so good to improve the industry.
ReplyDeleteNice job!
ReplyDeleteWhere's Teco Benson..not even one of his film is seen!!! What's up with him?
ReplyDelete