The Non-Recognition of Songwriters in Nigeria: The Bane of Copyright Protection in the Music Industry
Over the years, the music industry in Nigeria has ostensibly evolved. Along with this evolution is the continued undermining of the influence of songwriters in Nigeria. Although the first in the food chain of the music industry, songwriters have been given little or no recognition in Nigeria. From not giving them credits to withholding their royalties and even the lack of award recognition for their hard work. Bearing in mind the overwhelming importance of songwriters to churning out hit music, this is a sad phenomenon.
Compared to the situation in the UK and the U.S where a well-structured system exists and songwriters are given adequate recognition as well as paid royalties for their songs, their rights are specifically provided for under their various laws (e.g. the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA)); there are collecting societies like the Performers’ Rights Society (PRS) and the BMI in the UK and US respectively who are responsible for ensuring the royalties of the songwriters get to them. A very good example of this is the claim instituted by the PRS against SoundCloud in 2015 over their failure to pay songwriters outstanding royalties for streaming their contents. Also songwriters are recognised and awarded for their contributions to songs by various award organisers. Notable of this is the Grammys which has about 5 or 6 categories for songwriters.
The scorn at the idea of Nigerian music artistes outsourcing the lyrics of their songs by the Nigerian music fan base has led to the continual non-recognition of song writers. Unfortunately, many Nigerians deem artistes that do these as lazy and unoriginal, blatantly ignoring the busy schedules of these artistes and the strain it puts regularly on their creative sides. Many Nigerians still can’t fathom the idea of a songwriter and the performing artiste being different persons. Although, many times, usually the same persons, this is not always so. Abroad, most hit songs performed by popular artistes were written by other people. “Diamonds” by Rihanna was written by Sia; “Love Yourself” by Justin Beiber was co-written with Ed-Sheeran. Also there are many professional songwriters association abroad. In essence, song writing is a profession. The likes of Shane McAnally, Max Martin and Nadir Khayat have proven.
The industry over the years has seen various disputes among artistes and songwriters over credits to a song. From the 2-face and Blackface evergreen dispute over “African Queen” to Davido and Password’s over “Gobe” and the more recent one of Dammy Krane and Wizkid over “Baba Nla”. It has become obvious that not only is the non-recognition of songwriters the bane of development of the music industry in Nigeria but also the lack of education on their rights as songwriters has dealt the industry a large blow. This paper will explore the legal rights granted to song writers under the Nigerian law
The legal rights of a songwriter is one protected by copyright and provided for by the Nigerian Copyright Act (Cap.28 LFN 2004) in Nigeria. “Song writer” is not defined by the Act but may be defined as persons who write the lyrics and melodies to a song. Thus, producers sometimes can be classified as songwriters especially where they provide the melodies and hooks to a song. Nonetheless, the definition given can be deemed to fall under the term “author” provided by the Act since songwriters are largely the creators of the work and without them there won’t be a song.
Pursuant to section 10 of the Act, songwriters are the initial owners of the copyright in the song. It should be mentioned, in Nigeria, copyright subsists in a work automatically without the need to register it. The act by virtue of section 6 (1) (a) grants certain rights to do or authorise the doing of certain acts by a songwriter and these rights can be summed into the following:
Reproduction of the work into any material form;
Publishing the work (which includes making commercially available to the public the work);
Production, reproduce, perform or publish any derivative of the work e.g. translations, adaptations of the work, etc.);
Performance of the work in public;
Broadcast or communication of the work to the public’;
Section 44 of the Act also grants the right to restrict or control the importation and exportation of copies of his work. Therefore, a songwriter may do or authorise the above acts in relation to the song.
By virtue of section 10, the songwriter being the author initially possesses the copyright in the song but the Act in section 11 gives the songwriter the right to assign or lease some or all of these exclusive rights in the song if he so desires usually for a lump payment or continual royalties. These assignments or transfer of rights are done by contractual agreements. Based on this, the songwriter may transfer by contracts his reproduction, publishing and performance rights to the publishing house (or record labels as is commonly done in Nigeria where well-developed publishing houses do not exist yet) and the artistes who perform the song. Usually, the publishing house and the songwriter split the proceeds from the song 50/50. Both parties usually own part- copyrights to the song. The songwriter being the author to the song is entitled to royalties when his song is used by third parties in relation to the acts prescribed in section 6 of the Act. Depending on the contract, the songwriter is entitled to print royalties, performance royalties, mechanical royalties and synchronisation royalties. The songwriter is as much the owner of the song as the artiste who performs it.
The benefits accruing to a songwriter is largely dependent on the contacts signed and his negotiation power. Irrespective of the rights imbued in a songwriter by the law, many song writers still fall prey to harsh contracts making them transfer all or most of their rights to the song. This is why it is imperative to get an entertainment lawyer before entering into any contract in relation to your song in order not to be embroiled in quagmires that can adversely affect your brand e.g. Kiss Daniel.
As a songwriter, you are the initial owner of the song. That is some power many don’t know how to wield. You also have the rights to be credited for your song as the author pursuant to section 12 of the Act. Music is a business and it is time to start making money of this business. Songwriters depending on the contract signed are entitled to royalties when their songs are played in public or broadcast on radio stations. In order to effectively reap these royalties, it is important to register as a member of a collecting society e.g. COSON.
Hopefully in the nearest future, the rights and hard work of songwriters in Nigeria will be recognised by the government having a more specific provisions touching on songwriters; creating of formal organisation of songwriters thereby emphasising professionalism; and award categories are created to recognise the hard work and instrumentality of songwriters to a song.
Francis Ololuo
Francisoololuo@gmail.com
