Steve Agbota
Against the backdrop of increasing legal frameworks trailing intellectual property and allied rights breaches in Nigeria, a former Dean of Law Dedpartment at Babcock University, Prof. Bankole Sodipo, has urged banks to always obtain authorisation from copyright owners before using their works to avoid infringement suits coming against them.
Sodipo, who spoke on, “The Related Nigeria Copyright and Allied Laws and Impact on the Operations of the Banking Industry: The Take Away Lessons,” at the ACAMB Breakfast Session in Lagos, said unauthorised use of work in places where consent is needed could be liable to infringement suits that can embarass owners and managers of the organisations.
According to him, banks must therefore get authorisation from the right person on copyright work, warning that obtaining authorisation from wrong persons could put people in some organisation in trouble with the law.
He explained that ACAMB members, and the institutions they represent, need to know more about patent designs, copyright, trademarks, plant and animal variety, and confidential information/trade secrets, traditional knowledge and the consequences of their breaches to avoid spending unnecessary time and resources on copyright litigations. On patent protection, he said certain new and improved inventions are registered.
The former university don said financial projects involving software development, film finance, finance of media and entertainment projects would underline intellectual property rights, adding that there are various forms of intellectual property and allied rights deployed or protected by different segments of banking business.
Under remedies to copyright infringements, he explained: “Criminal sanctions, fines and term of imprisonment for officers of banks who supervised offending transactions and arrest where an officer of the bank can be handcuffed to face criminal trial, among others.”
In his opening remarks, the President of ACAMB, Charles Aigbe, said after much deliberation at ACAMB committee, it becomes imperative to set in on the matter on behalf of the banking industry by having a session where members can look at the issues, gains enough understanding about corporate laws in Nigeria on banks’ operations.
He further cited the Anton Piller Inspection and Seizure Order, a most devastating order that can wind down activities of a bank on the day if it is being executed. According to him, this kind of activities may cause banks to lose customers by closing of their accounts.
Speaking on the take away lessons, Sodipo said there must be capacity building, a must for banks’ corporate affairs staff. He urged banks not to be caught and if caught, “defend yourselves effectively.” He also advised ACAMB members to keep reviewing and improving process, documentation, contracts, etc and defending and protecting their banks.
The Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) had filed a suit against First Bank for copyright infringement –unauthorised use of several musical works and recordings communicated to the public.