A major step towards scuttling further piracy of intellectual works was taken recently in Lagos at a two-day workshop organized by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC).

Held at Planet One Hotel, Maryland, Ikeja, under the theme Copyright and Pay Subscription Broadcasting in Nigeria: Rights Acquisition and Infringement, the workshop was well attended by operators of Pay Subscription Broadcasting in the country.

It recognized the broadcast industry as a cost intensive venture; hence participants called on stakeholders in the industry to comply with the rules, regulations and policies designed to achieve a dynamic, vibrant and responsible broadcasting in the country.

Essentially, participants tasked all broadcasting organizations, especially the Pay Television Sub-sector, on the need to re-evaluate current industry practices with a view to encouraging greater compliance with existing regulations and laws, particularly those that have to do with copyright and piracy. Participants also recognized the centrality of quality and content of broadcasting to the overall development, peace and security of the nation; hence they called for government intervention through its regulatory agencies.

Government agencies performing overlapping regulatory functions should emulate the example of the National Broadcasting Commission and the Nigerian Copyright Commission by coming together occasionally with the stakeholder community for enhanced mutual understanding and higher level of compliance in the overall interest of the nation.

And as Nigeria prepares for the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting come June 17, 2012, participants at the workshop considered it ripe to bring into focus regulatory issues in copyright, which are likely to confront operators of the industry in the digital era.

Having acknowledged Broadcasting organizations as carriers of copyright works, aside their own rights, participants also noted the enormous role which broadcast media can play in copyright enforcement, hence the need for them to take up the responsibility of complying with copyright laws and regulations governing their operations.

In the same vein, stakeholders at the workshop agreed that both the NBC and NCC should continue to collaborate in order to make broadcast piracy less attractive to broadcast operators in the country.
Also in view of the prevailing diversity and scope of broadcast rights violation in Nigeria, participants urged owners of such rights to co-operate with the regulatory authorities to tackle the problem through public enlightenment, anti-piracy operations as well as enhanced monitoring, investigation and even prosecution of violators. It was equally considered illegal for broadcasting stations to broadcast musicals or films, which they have not paid for. And the excuse that they do not know who to pay for such copyright works would no longer be tenable.

The current undue emphasis on imported foreign programmes by Pay Television operators was considered unacceptable, given the negative effects of such contents on the people and the nation. There is therefore, a need to review the existing local content ratio in the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to make the practice less attractive.

It was also noted that at present, Nigeria is expending too much money on the acquisition of foreign sports broadcast rights. And that Pay Television operators should seek to reverse this trend in order to stem the huge economic waste involved in the unpatriotic practice. Towards this end, participants called on the Federal Government to provide necessary enabling environment for local sports events to thrive as a strategy to attract broadcast patronage.

And in terms of experience and potential content sources, participants at the workshop noted that Nigeria has enough to lead others in local content production and broadcast in Africa. It is therefore imperative for Broadcast and copyright regulators as well as their operators to exploit the advantages in order to improve the quality of local content production and broadcast in the country.

While Broadcast operators were advised to protect their stations against copyright infringement through compliance with existing copyright regulations and laws, they were equally urged to practice self-regulation like their Spanish counterparts. This, according to stakeholders, will reduce, drastically, such areas of conflict between them and the regulatory authorities and further enhance the standard of broadcasting in the country.

The acquisition of sports broadcast rights by Pay Television operators, amounts to denying more than 90 percent of the Nigerian viewing public the access to national sporting events. Meanwhile, participants commended the National Broadcasting Commission for improved local content broadcasts on Nigerian television stations’ prime time in the past nine months. They however urged the Commission to maintain this achievement and even seek ways of improvement through regulation.

The workshop stressed the need to strike a balance between the interest of broadcast operators to acquire rights and the rights of the public to be informed. As such, abuse of monopoly rights to broadcast content does not only negate the principles of fairness and healthy competition, but also violates the freedom of information flow as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.

As a solution, Broadcast regulators were asked to ensure that a good percentage of national sporting events are broadcast on terrestrial television to give majority of Nigerian viewers access to the popular content. And where Pay Television operators are allowed to buy the exclusive right to broadcast such events, they should be made to make some available to their terrestrial counterparts, even if it is on delayed basis.

While observing that lack of sponsorship poses a serious challenge to qualitative and quantitative content production and broadcast in Nigeria, the workshop directed that Broadcast operators and even the private sector should invest in content production to enhance quality and standards.

The workshop, which was declared open by Mr. Adebambo Adewopo, Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, also saw the DG delivering a keynote address. Also Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, the Director General of the NBC who was represented by the Director of Management Services of the Commission, Elder Abiodun Ogunsote, presented a welcome address.

At the two-day event, eminent resource persons treated stakeholders to well-researched papers, just as practitioners of Pay Subscription Broadcasting in Nigeria as well as the media were well represented.