PROFESSOR Helge Ronning, Chairman, Norwegian Copyright Development Association (NORCODE) has challenged Nigeria to meaningfully tap the tremendous wealth that abounds in the country with respect to the works of the mind and its creative industries.
Professor Ronning, who spoke at the COSON Lecture, was certain that the nation’s creative industries can contribute more to Nigeria’s GDP than oil. At the lecture held on Tuesday at the National Theater Lagos, Ronning emphasized that the country will be doing itself great harm by not seriously converting the potentials that exist in its music, literature, dance and other forms of creativity into viable products.
Ronning said, “The unifying feature of the cultural industries is that their core is creativity protected by copyright and other forms of intellectual property legislation. Copyright embodies the power to alter the balance between what is private and public, what must be paid for and what is freely available. The working of markets is framed and regulated by copyright law and there is a constant tension between economic realities and legal doctrine that is played out in the arena of the cultural industries.”
The explosive lecture, chaired by the Honorable Justice A.B Gumel of the Court of Appeal, also had a distinguished panel of discussants who X-rayed the issues raised by Ronning. The panelists include Professor Bankole Shodipo, President, Intellectual Property Law Association of Nigeria (IPLAN); Professor Emevwo Biakolo, Dean, School of Media and Communication, Pan African University; Mrs. Tarja Koskinen-Olsson, Former Honorary President, Intellectual Federation of Reprographic Rights Organisation (IFFRO) and Mr. Chris Nkwocha, Lagos Regional Manager, Nigerian Copyright Commission, who represented the Director General of Nigeria Copyright Commission.
Taking the participants through the rudiments of copyright, its challenges and benefits, Ronning explained the relationship between the culture and creative industries which existence and sustenance he noted depends largely on the respect for intellectual property.
He charged the audience never to “forget that the rights of authors and performers of all kinds – composers, writers, filmmakers, singers, actors, musicians – are the foundation for the cultural industries. To struggle to uphold our rights must be a central element in all enlightened cultural policy initiatives.”
The event took a new dimension when some members of the audience including Efe Omorogbe of Now Muzik and soul singer, Azeezat took the microphone and voiced their various concerns and how pertinent it is for artistes and indeed the general public to understand that selling their rights cheap and playing ignorance to the benefits of copyright is obsolete and self-defeating.
They however urged the audience to take advantage of opportunities like the COSON Lecture to help them shape their knowledge on the issue of intellectual property and protection of copyright.
Other personalities present on the day were ace producer, Laolu Akins, Erelu Keji Okunowo, the Norwegian ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr. Rolf Ree; Toju Ejuitche, Ziggima King, Bright Chimezie, Mahmood Ali- Balogun, Orlando Julius, Pa Chris Ajilo among many others.
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