Intellectual Property rights and productivity in Nigeria

Thomas G. Field Jr. Asked a basic question and provided a revealing answer. He queries;  “ Why do countries such as the United States, Japan and The Netherlands protect inventions; literary and artistic works; symbols, images and designs used in commerce; the information and original expressions of creative individuals known as intellectual property(IP).” His answer: […]

Thomas G. Field Jr. Asked a basic question and provided a revealing answer. He queries;  “ Why do countries such as the United States, Japan and The Netherlands protect inventions; literary and artistic works; symbols, images and designs used in commerce; the information and original expressions of creative individuals known as intellectual property(IP).” His answer: ‘They do so because they know safe-guarding these property rights fosters economic growth, provides incentives for technological innovation, and attracts investments that will create job opportunities for all their citizens.
Further statistics of the interdependence of national and global economies and their intellectual property abound and captured in the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2002. It reveals that ‘across the range of income levels, intellectual property rights (IPR) are associated with greater trade and foreign direct investment flows, which in turn translates into faster rates of economic growth’ A specific example of the united States is given where over the ‘past decade, over 50 percent ‘ of her exports derive from one type of intellectual property protection or the other. Yet, 50 years before the, it was less than tem percent. The awareness has dawned in developed countries, intellectuals and artists (intangible products) have the same rights as owners of physical industries and property to ‘prevent unauthorized use and sale of their creations.   
Very little, if any such awareness or attention is given to the intellectual property of developing nations, including the nations of Africa, like Nigeria. This is evident in the fact that hardly do any of the creative artists and creative writers of Africa make a living out of their works. Syndicate of book pirates and mindless, wholesome reprography (photocopying/reproduction of creative and intellectual works go on, virtually unchecked in Nigeria today, driving writers, musicians, performers to the edge of bankruptcy and near-insanity, killing creative inspiration, endeavour and activity.
The Intellectual rights (IPRs) experience today is in a very sordid condition requiring urgent re-evaluation. The colonialists brought Africa into contact with the laws and policies of IP since colonial aegis, in the correct notion that IP is an instrument for economic advancement, which could be utilized to transform developing countries to industrialized economies. The statues of Intellectual property established in the constitutions of the colonies remain largely untouched in constitutions of the colonized nations, including Nigeria, but they remain undeveloped and un-utilized as viable instruments of development after independence. The fact is that the colonial powers regarded the relevance of Africa, from the standpoint of their self-economic interests, as producers of IP, as mere producers and suppliers of raw material and consumer dumping grounds for their exports. They spared little or no thought for Africa as capable of any creativity, possessing any intellectual creation or property, talk less of protecting their rights in that direction. (quote Lindfors). Indeed, African legal bureaucrats of IPRs saw their duty as protecting the interest of foreign/overseas holders on the continent through registering and enforcing foreign IPRs. Even after the World Trade Organization agreements that were related to IPRs  (TIPRS), with  regards to patents, copyrights and trademarks—key regimes of IP, the African IPR laws were largely foreign owned. Currently, through globalization, industrialized nations push the IP envelope through the internet in which Africa is still largely unable to participate competitively for economic growth. As Oguamanam (2014) recently observed, ‘Africa has yet to rise to the challenge of a radically changed global IP landscape… Africa is literally ‘missing in action’ in global forums on IP and its cultural and regional interests are under-argued’     
This position is, of course, vastly exaggerated as African countries are affiliate members of the International Federation for Rights Organizations (IFRRO) and are strongly connected with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The African Committee of IFRRO, his, in the last meeting I Malawi (June 12-14, 2014) we had successfully fought to make the ten African nations’ members of IFRRO a Regional Zone rather than being a mere, amorphous committee. Indeed, as we shall show later, Nigeria is a vibrant member of IFRRO, through the Reproduction Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) which I currently chair. What is true is that Africa is yet to effectively create an ambience where intellectual property owners are not only adequately rewarded nor are their property adequately protected.
The basic questions here are as follows: what is Intellectual Property? What constitutes Intellectual Property Rights? What are the Intellectual Property Laws? What connects Intellectual property and Economic Development? Intellectual property is simply defined as the ‘legally recognized exclusive rights to creations of the mind’ (Raysman, Piscreta and Alder; 1998-2008). It means, broadly, the legal rights which results  from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields.’ Nations create laws to protect intellectual property. In Nigeria, this power to create such laws is vested in the Nigerian Copyright Commission. Its functions are a) to give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators over their creations, b) to give rights to the public to access these creations as consumers, c) to promote, through conscious policy of government, creativity and the dispersal and application of the products so as advance far trading such that will make contribution to economic and social development.  The term was first used by Justice L. Woodbury  when he wrote in his October 1845 Massachusetts Circuit Court ruling that ‘ only in this way can we protect intellectual property, the labors of the mind, productions and interests are as much a man’s own …as the wheat he cultivates, or the flock he rears’
There are two global organizations established for the operation of intellectual Property rights and laws, These are the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The other is the International Forum for Reproduction Rights Organizations. The Convention which established WIPO was concluded in Stockholm on July 14, 1967 (Article 2(viii), stipulating the inclusion of Literary and scientific works; Performances of performing artists, phonographs and broadcasts,; Inventions in all fields of endeavor; Scientific discoveries, and so on.
(To be concluded next week)