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further information, see: www.wipo.int/sme/
en/documents/business_website.htm
4. OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT
Is the author always the owner of a
copyright work?
The meaning of ‘authorship’ and of ‘ownership’
is often confused. The author of a work is the
person who created the work. If the work
was created by more than one person, then
all the creators are considered as co-owners
or joint-owners. The issue of authorship is
especially relevant in connection with moral
rights and in order to determine the date on
which protection expires.
The Copyright Act defines the author of each
type of work:
•
Literary, artistic or musical works: the
creator
of the work;
•
Photographic works: the person who
took
the photograph;
•
Cinematograph films: the person by
whom the arrangements for making of the film
were made, (unless the parties to the making of
the film provide otherwise by contract within
themselves);
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•
Sound recordings: the person by
whom the arrangements for the making of
the recording were made (unless the parties
to the making of the sound recording provide
otherwise by contract);
•
Sound recordings of musical works: the
artist in whose name the recording was made
(unless in either case the parties to the making
of the sound recording of the musical work,
provide otherwise by contract);
•
Broadcasts: in the case of broadcast
transmitted from within any country, the
author is the person by whom the arrangements
for the making or the transmission from within
that country were undertaken.
Copyright ownership is a different issue.
The owner of the copyright in a work is the
person who has the exclusive rights to exploit
the work, for example, to use, copy, sell, and
make derivative works. Generally, in Nigeria,
copyright in a work initially belongs to the
person who actually created it, that is to say,
the author. However, this position may be
altered by contract.
Works created by an employee: here, the work
belongs to the employee, except the contract
of employment or some other contract
specifically provides for the transfer of the
copyright to the employer.
However, in the case of employment in
journalism, and in respect of a literary, musical
or artisitic work as it relates to the employment,
the work belongs to the employer except there
is an agreement that the work will belong to
the employee.
Commissioned works/works for hire: where
a work is commissoned by a person who is
not the author’s employer under a contract
of employment, the copyright in the work will
belong to the author/creator except the parties
agree otherwise in writing.
Who owns the moral rights?
Moral rights always belong to the individual
creator of the work (or his/her heirs and
successors-in-title). As noted above, (see
page 13), this right is perpetual, inalienable and
imprescriptible, and so cannot be waived by
contract or some other means.
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Companies cannot have moral rights. For
example, if the executive producer of a film
is a company, then only the actual producer
(originator or creator) and in some cases, the
director and screenwriter will have moral rights
in the film.
Works Created for Governments
In Nigeria, where a work is made under
the direction and control of a government,
government
authority
or
prescribed
international body, that government, authority
or body will be the owner of copyright in
the work. However, an author who has been
commissioned to do a work by any of these
bodies may contract to ensure that the
copyright in the work belongs to him/her.
Example: You outsource the creation of an
advertisement for your company. At the
time, you intend to use it to promote your
new product at a trade show. Under most
national laws, the advertising agency will own
the copyright, unless it was expressly agreed
otherwise in the contract. Some time later,
you want to use parts of the advertisement (a
graphic design, a photo or a logo) on your new
website. You must seek the permission from
the advertising agency to use the copyright
material in this new way. This is because the
use of the material on your website was not
necessarily envisaged at the time of the original
contract.
Who owns the copyright in works
created by several authors?
A basic requirement of co authorship is that
each co author’s contribution must itself be
copyrightable subject matter. In the case of
co-authorship, the rights are usually exercised
on the basis of an agreement between all the
co-authors. In the absence of such agreement,
the following rules generally apply:
•
Joint works. When two or more authors
agree to merge their contributions into an
inseparable or interdependent combination of
the individual contributions, or if two or more
persons share a joint interest in the whole or
any part of a copyright, a “joint work” is created.