Minister Endorses Use Of Barcode In Movies, Music To Fight Piracy

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 reinvigorate 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.