13th August, 2016
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 reinvigorate 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.