Are you a Nigerian actor, graphics designer, editor, painter, or into other aspects of the creative industry? If yes, you now stand a chance to be a beneficiary of the $8.2 billion worth of intellectual Property Rights (IPR) market on a global scale.
As a Nigerian creator, you now have the leverage of benefiting from the global IPR market, as the Federal Government (FG) signed a 3-year agreement with Developing Africa Group (DAG).
Under this agreement, BizWatch Nigeria understands that a marketplace where Nigerians would be able to sell their IPR would be developed.
While the platform would allow Nigerian creators to commercialise registered IPRs, and enable them to sell or exchange those rights internationally, it would similarly see the establishment of a nationwide wallet, where Nigerians can collect royalties or payments in form of digital tokens or cryptocurrencies on any IPR they upload on the platform.
What are intellectual property rights in Nigeria?
IPRs are legal rights that protect creators, such as actors and designers, for original works, inventions, or the appearance of products, artistic works, scientific developments, and so on. In other words, they can be understood as a common type of legal IP protection for those who invent.
Under IP laws, creators/inventors have exclusive rights over their works. Hence, they have the right to sell (assign) their work or permit others (license) to use or re-create their work.
Is this good news for Nigerian creators?
For the country’s booming creative industry, this partnership would not only translate to more visibility but more earnings.
When the platform finally goes live, it would allow anyone that identifies as a digital creator to sell their intellectual properties.
With this arrangement, Nollywood actors like Osita Iheme and Odunlade Adekola can sell rights to soundbites and memes; photographers like Fati Abubakar can list rights to their photos, and even software engineers and product designers can sell rights to unique processes or designs (including logos) that are registered under Nigeria’s patent law.
NB: With this deal, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) is expected to see a rise in registration from Nigerian creators looking to make money by just selling their IP rights.
