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it can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise
communicated either directly or with the aid of
any machine or device.Thus, the work must be
fixed in a material form, for example, written
on paper, stored on a disk, painted on canvas
or recorded on tape.
3.
Origination: Another requirement/
condition for the protection of copyright in
Nigeria is origination. Beyond originality and
fixation, for a work to enjoy copyright protection
in Nigeria, the origin of the work is essential. In
this regard a work will enjoy copyright if:
a)
The author or one of the authors, at
the time the work was made was a citizen of
Nigeria, a person domiciled in Nigeria, a company
incorporated in Nigeria, a government or any
agency of any government in Nigeria (Federal,
State or Local government), or an international
body prescribed in accordance with the laws
of Nigeria (e.g, the United Nations or one of
its agencies like World Intellectual Property
Organisation); or
b)
The work is a sound recording made in
Nigeria, regardless of the citizenship, domicile,
incorporation, etc, of any of the authors;
c)
The work was first published in Nigeria,
regardless of the citizenship, domicile,
incorporation, etc, of the any of the authors.
However, this does not apply to broadcasts.
d)
The work is covered by any
international agreement or treaty (such as the
Universal Copyright Convention or the Berne
Convention).
In Nigeria, there is no statutory requirement
for copyright to be registered in respect to a
work. The work becomes protected as soon as
it is created and put/fixed in a tangible material.
This protection is accorded to both published
and unpublished works.
What aspects of a work are not
protected by copyright?
Ideas or concepts. Copyright law only protects
the way ideas or concepts are expressed in
a particular work. It does not protect the
underlying idea, concept, discovery, method
of operation, principle, procedure, process, or
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system, regardless of the form in which it is
described or embodied in a work.
Example: Your company has copyright over an
instruction manual that describes a system for
brewing beer. The copyright in the manual will
allow you to prevent others from copying the
way you wrote the manual, and the phrases and
illustrations that you have used. However, it will
not give you any right to prevent competitors
from (a) using the machinery, processes, and
merchandising methods described in the
manual; or (b) writing another manual for a
beer brewery..
•
Facts or information. Copyright does
not protect facts or information - whether
scientific, historical, biographical or news -
but only the manner in which such facts or
information are/is expressed, selected or
arranged.
•
Names, titles, slogans and other short
phrases are generally excluded from copyright
protection. The name or logo of a product
or an advertising slogan will usually not be
protected by copyright but may be protected
under trademark law or the law of unfair
competition.
•
Official government works (such as
copies of statutes or judicial opinions) are not
protected by copyright in Nigeria.
Works of Applied Art – Overlap
between Copyright and Design Rights
Works of applied art are artistic works used
for industrial purposes by being incorporated
in everyday products. Typical examples are
jewelry, lamps, and furniture. Works of applied
art have a double nature: they may be regarded
as artistic works; however, their exploitation
and use do not take place in the specific cultural
markets but rather in the market of general-
purpose products. This places them on the
borderline between copyright and industrial
design protection. The protection given to
works of applied art differs greatly from one
country to another.
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In Nigeria, it is possible that an artistic work
(including works of artistic craftsmanship,
pictorial woven tissues and articles of
applied handicraft and industrial art) may
enjoy protection under copyright, but where
the work was created to be multiplied by an
industrial process, it is protected under the
law of industrial designs.
What rights does copyright protection
provide?
Copyright provides two sets or bundles of
rights. Economic rights protect the author’s
or copyright owner’s economic interests in
possible commercial gain. Moral rights protect
an author’s creative integrity and reputation
as expressed through the work.
What are economic rights?
Economic rights give the owner/holder of
copyright the exclusive right to authorize or
prohibit certain uses of a work. Exclusive
means no one may exercise these rights
without a copyright owner’s prior permission.
Generally, the economic rights include the
exclusive rights to:
•
Reproduce a work in copies in various
forms. For example, copying a CD, photocopying
a book, downloading a computer program,
digitizing a photo and storing it on a hard disk,
scanning a text, printing a cartoon character
on a T-shirt, or incorporating a portion of a
song into a new song. This is one of the most
important rights granted by copyright.
•
Distribute copies of a work to the public.
Copyright allows its owner to prohibit others
from selling, leasing or licensing unauthorized
copies of the work.
•
Rent copies of a work. This right generally
applies only to certain types of works, such
as cinematographic works, musical works, or
computer programs.
•
Make translations or adaptations of a
work. Such works are also called derivative
works, which are new works that are based
on a protected work. For example, translating
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