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.
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