The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
endorsed the use of barcode in Nigerian movies and music as a measure to
protect intellectual properties from undue exploitation.
The
Minister, who was responding to a request to that effect by the
Caretaker Committee of the Performing Musicians Employers Association of
Nigeria (PMAN) who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on
Friday, advised the Association to also liaise with the Broadcasting
Organisation of Nigeria (BON), the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC)
and other regulatory bodies to ensure the success of the new measure.
“You
asked that we make a declaration making it illegal for NTA, FRCN and
other radio and television stations from using any music or movie, which
is not barcoded…I think what we should do is to work through the
Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), NCC and other regulatory
bodies,” he said.
Barcode is a machine-readable representation of
data, which provides information about the objects that carry such
codes. In the movie and music industry, It can be used to separate
original works from fake ones, thus preventing buyers as well as radio
and television stations from patronizing pirated works.
Alhaji
Mohammed decried how trillions of Naira are being lost through
copyrights infringement and stressed the need to re-invigorate
institutional structures to block areas of leakages in order to rake in
more revenue for the government and also allow artistes to enjoy the
fruits of their labour.
He also enjoined players in the creative
industry to buy into the innovative ways the government is employing to
fight piracy through the Digital Switch Over in broadcasting.
“I
think you also have to buy into the new digitization programme of the
Federal Government because that will be a more effective way to fighting
piracy than what we have today…… When you release your work online
then there are no CDs to pirate. If I want to buy I (must) pay and it
comes straight to me,” he remarked.
The Minister said another
advantage of the digital regime is the multiplicity of channels to
broadcast content, thereby creating more demand for content.
He
said the government is working to turn the creative industry into a
viable economy and appealed for private sector investment in production
and post-production studios as a deliberate effort to curb capital
flight to countries with hi-tech production infrastructure.
“If
you can convince the private sector on the viability of the creative
industry, you are going to see change. What the private sector needs are
figures, data and balance-sheet,” said Alhaji Mohammed.
The
Minister also sought the support of PMAN towards the National
Re-orientation Campaign of the Federal Government, tagged “Change Begins
with Me,” which is to be launched soon, saying creative artistes are
influential members of the society who can take the message of change in
attitude to the various strata of society.
He agreed to partner
with PMAN to organise a Creative Economy Conference with a view to
bringing on board all stakeholders to brainstorm on the development of
the industry.
In his remarks, the President of the Caretaker
Committee of PMAN, Mr. Pretty Okafor, said the music industry is the
biggest employer of labour in Nigeria with over 12 million people
gainfully engaged.
Mr. Okafor said according to a recent study,
the nation’s creativity industry is worth N15 trillion, but that over
N10 trillion is lost through national and global piracy.
He said
government stands to earn N3 trillion annually in both Value Added Tax
and taxable income through the introduction of systematic ways to track
revenue accruing to the sector and curbing piracy.