HATRED IS A VIRUS

Do you know that hatred is a virus, the worst virus there is? Hatred permeates your body's engine and weakens the crankshaft. The piston and rings become loose and when you fire your engine, rather than get swift movement, what you end up with is smoke, lots of smoke! You wonder why your engine oil disappears so fast. Hatred drains you of happiness and rational thinking. Each time I see those who attack me with falsehood and hatred, they don't look so good. They appear gaunt and spent and they all seem to be ageing fast. Hatred is wearing them out.

I have spent much of my life wrestling with man's hatred. I have little material wealth but OMG, I have faith and I am H A P P Y! I appreciate the grace that the Almighty has given me to work hard, focus on my challenges and achieve results that please Him. I walk with my head held high and love the gifts He has given me.

I have heard some people say that I am arrogant… Arrogant ke? No sir! What they call arrogance is confidence. If you believe in God, you glow in His glory. I am not so stupid that I do not understand that whatever wisdom and strength I may deploy do not belong to me but to the Almighty. If you think that I am arrogant, please bury the thought. I simply glow in the glory of God.

I have said before that I do not want to be Dangote or Otedola or Ronaldo or Donald Trump. I do not need to be a governor or a minister. I am Tony Okoroji and boy, I like it!

I know that the good Lord has given to each of His children our peculiar gifts. The problem is that rather than harness our gifts, some people are very busy with envy and covetousness and fixated on the gifts of others. Somebody should tell them that I do not want to be them, can never be them and no matter how much they try, they cannot be me.

When I say that I drive on a full tank of faith, I mean that I have full confidence that if what I am doing is to the glory of God and the good of his children, I cannot fail. As my tank is filled with faith, so are my tires filled with love and no obstacle or bump can stop me.

 In their hearts, those who have gone after me know that I have done nothing against them and taken nothing that belongs to them. They are just driven by hate and so cannot think or act rationally. I was recently told by someone I used to respect that there are people who hate me because I am always winning. He actually advised that I should lose sometimes so that my 'adversaries' can be happy! In other words, I should be a failure so that some people can celebrate! People who do not work anywhere as hard as I do want recognition for what they have not done. See me, see trouble.

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week. I never stop working and I don't complain about work. Life is work. Work is fun. In everything I do, I seek perfection. I have repeatedly asked the good Lord to use me to do good to as many people as possible. Every day I wake up, it is my duty to put a smile on the face of someone.

Do you know that nearly everyone who ferociously attacks me is someone I have given my love to? They take and take and at some point, conclude that I have become their 'mugu,' available to give everything they want. Then, they make a demand that I cannot give. Come and see wahala oh! They are shocked that their 'mugu' can say no to them sometimes. After all, I am supposed to be there for their use. Suddenly, friendship turns to hatred. From being an exceptionally good person, I have become a very bad man, selfish, cunning and even a criminal! That is how the hate swells and the desire to destroy ferments.

Please, let them go with their hate. I do not want to be part of it. I do not want to dwell in it. Hate belongs to the devil. I deal with love and I am happy with it. I know that the Almighty will never let me be successful in destroying anyone who has done nothing against me.

I have witnessed some people concoct so much lies, repeatedly tell their lies until they even begin to believe their lies. They continue to run from pillar to post and ask themselves why their lies have been so ineffective. They get frustrated that they do not achieve what they desire. The answer is simple: love conquers hate.

I do hope that all of us will learn that man is not God and God does not dwell in hate. If you kneel down and pray that you succeed with your hate, you have not prayed to God but to the devil. You will simply continue to be eaten up by the virus called hate.

Try pumping your tires with love and drive on a full tank of faith. I promise that you will never be stranded along the way. God is love!

 

See you next week

Ps: Tomorrow is September 1. For ten years, we have celebrated September 1 as "No Music Day" in Nigeria, a day we dwell on the massive abuse of the Intellectual property of creative people and investors in our music industry. Let's spare some thought for these our fellow countrymen tomorrow. Let the music pay!

THEY HAVE TRIED AND TRIED BUT COSON IS WORKING!

THEY HAVE TRIED AND TRIED BUT COSON IS WORKING!

Believe me, soon, the chickens will come home to roost. The conspirators who planned the failed coup to hijack COSON will pay a price, one by one. Several times I have seen Karma work. It is set to work again!

The nature of their conspiracy will also become public knowledge. What has already become very clear is that nothing they have done has been to help the members of COSON. It was all self-centered: greed of the worst kind. They wanted to conscript a system built as a legacy for every creative person in Nigeria, pocket it and use it to further enrich themselves. They knew that they can never get the members of COSON across the country to give them what they want. They had to arm twist a government agency, set up to uplift the stakeholders in the creative industry, to become a key partner in their perfidy. And all along, they have  pretended to be democrats!

The intellectual mastermind of this group is an old man who has become a habitual troublemaker. Before the battle to hijack COSON became public, I had written about him in this column. Just yesterday, I received two new court processes, both with his imprimatur. Reading through them, I did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Neither has rhyme nor reason. Each suggests that he has become terribly desperate. I can understand. Each and every scheme he has conjured to destroy COSON has failed. He is now running from pillar to post. I am not sure that he sleeps at night. At the end of the day, he may wish to run but he cannot hide. Eventually, everyone pays for the evil he does.

My guy, a habitual petition writer, has bullied some respected people in our industry to append their names to his petitions and court cases without letting them know what is eating him up.

I have done a careful assessment of our guy who knows how best to manage COSON. He is over 70 years old and I do not see what exceptional thing he has done all these years except that he is a prolific writer of petitions and position papers. With his skills, I am not aware of any book or even a pamphlet authored by him. He presents himself as an expert at building institutions but every institution he has been given to build is either dead or on death row. I know my guy very well. His kind populate our country - very good at talking but can't get anything done.

A few years ago, my guy contested elections to be on the Board of COSON. The members did not vote for him. He however thinks that he is so incredibly gifted that it ought to be clear to everyone. In his mind, the decision of the members not to vote for him was not their choice. According to him, he is not on the board because I manipulated the elections which I did not organize. My guy who says that he is a democrat does not seem to understand that democracy requires some humility.

My guy does not understand that in a democracy, you must respect the right of the people to choose a fool over the smartest guy in the room. I am not sure that there is any sane person who cannot see that Hilary Clinton is a smarter person than Donald Trump who cannot restrain himself from tweeting and retweeting bizarre stuff every day. Yet, today, Donald J. Trump resides in the White House and Hilary Clinton lives in Upstate New York. She has no choice but to accept the facts. In Nigeria, there are many who believe that Goodluck Jonathan and Atiku Abubakar would have made better presidents than Muhammadu Buhari. Like it or not, Muhammadu Buhari sleeps and wakes up at Aso Rock Villa.

A few years ago, almost no one in Nigeria gave COSON a chance. While my guy was busy writing his petitions, the beautiful COSON House was built without any kobo from the public purse. While this old man was on his computer keyboard composing one petition after another, COSON gave employment to some very brilliant and very well-trained Nigerians and for years has paid their salaries and allowances as at when due. While my guy has been crafting his petitions, COSON has distributed several millions of Naira to members across Nigeria every year. The organization he has so much spite for has executed reciprocal representation agreements covering over 150 collective management organizations in every corner of the globe. Its accounts are audited and filed as when due. Every two years, COSON organizes the amazing COSON Week, the last: eight back to back events organized over eight days in eight different and scintillating venues: some of the best organized events in Nigerian history. Despite my guy's unending petitions, on all indices of growth, COSON has been a very successful Nigerian story.

I was once President of PMAN, the musicians' union. PMAN was a most respected Nigerian institution. We were celebrated. People like my guy started their petition writing and agitation. I left PMAN for them. Everyone can see what has become of our once great PMAN.

Oh yes, they have done everything to infiltrate the COSON Board and have failed. We argue very vigorously on the COSON Board but we do not throw chairs. Because we do not throw chairs, my guy says that the COSON Board is a rubber stamp Board. Of course, If we were fighting ourselves on the streets, my guy would say, "Can't everyone see that they are unstable? Kick them out!'

COSON has become very attractive. Suddenly, all the people who were too busy to give tolerable time to COSON know how to run COSON better and they can't wait to chase us out.

COSON was started in a two bedroom flat. At some point, I spent 60 days and nights at the COSON office, only going home periodically to pick up a change of clothes. My bed was the office floor. I was writing legal documents, press releases, accounting documents, organizational charts, etc. Many times, I worked 20 hours in a stretch. Without the compliment of staff that COSON now has, that was how the building blocks were laid. The blocks were held together by incredible self-denial and iron clad belief that tomorrow can be better than yesterday. I have been attacked left, right and center and have lost count how many times I have gone to court to defend my name and to defend the COSON legacy. They have told tales of fabulous property owned by me. They cannot give you one address because such property exists only in their warped minds. 

I am human and not indispensable. I however understand the COSON vision, its very foundation and how the building blocks have been laid. I know the unique strengths and weaknesses of the organization. There is no question that there are people who dream of taking over COSON not because they want to defend the interest of the members but because they think that COSON has money that they can get their hands on. They neither have the knowledge nor the training to deal with the very complex subject of collective management of copyright. They lack the liver to take on the many enemies who are determined to thwart the system. They do not possess the skills to manage the many contending interests but they are very hungry for control. In less than six months, they will destroy this wonderful organization we have carefully built and turn it into another PMAN.

I have decided that I will not be bullied out. They can write as many petitions as they want, file as many court cases as they want and conspire ceaselessly as they want, I will not be bullied out. As long as the members of COSON genuinely want me to protect their legacy, I will be there to protect what belongs to them. Let the petition writers continue to write their petitions. What they may not know is that Karma is on the way.

See you next week.

IS IT TRUE THAT THERE IS NO REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT IN NIGERIA?

IS IT TRUE THAT THERE IS NO REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT IN NIGERIA?

 

Believe it or not, copyright protection begins as soon as an original and eligible work is created and put in a tangible form.  Contrary to popular belief, there is absolutely no requirement for a work to be registered in order to enjoy copyright protection in Nigeria.  There is no Registrar or Registry of copyright anywhere in Nigeria and no formality is necessary by law. Anyone telling you that he is registering your copyright in Nigeria is engaged in some form of 419. I know that a large number of people will react to this position with disbelief.  Some may even ask, "how then do I prove that I own the copyright in my work?"

 

It is very true that copyright is intellectual property. By some recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the owner of copyright clearly enjoys the proprietary rights enshrined in Section 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, the owner of copyright is not like the owner of a piece of land who may require a C of O to establish the ownership of his land.

 

So, why then do people troop to organizations like the NCC or COSON to 'register' their works? To my mind, such activities are merely documentation of the works in the databases of these establishments for the purpose of administering the works and not registration and they do not confer any constitutional or legal rights to the owners of the works.

 

Indeed, registration of copyright is contrary to the provisions of the various international copyright conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory. An example is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary & Artistic Works administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which Nigeria joined on September 14, 1993. Article 5 (2) of the Berne Convention makes it clear that no formality is needed to ensure protection of copyright. In other words, no registration is required, no deposit is required and no notification is required. Protection is automatic.

 

In fact, registration of copyright is a dying practice. Across the world, only the United States of America still registers copyright and only for the purpose of bringing an action and not for protection. Elsewhere in the world, copyright registries have been dismantled and the registrars sent home.

 

If you do not give serious thought to the issue, you may consider the absence of any statutory registration procedure for copyright as a major defect of the Nigerian Copyright law. I wish to discuss some of the many reasons why it has been widely accepted across the globe that registration of copyright is not such a good idea.

 

Copyright does not just protect musical works, sound recordings, books, plays, movies, computer programs, photographs, broadcasts, etc. Copyright protects an almost endless list of creative works and works of artistic craftmanship such as paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, engravings, prints, maps, plans, diagrams, works of architecture, sculptural works, etc.

 

It may be clear to a paper presenter at a seminar or workshop that his work enjoys copyright protection but one is not sure whether the local pastor is aware that any unauthorized reproduction of his Sunday sermon is an infringement of his copyright and that he is entitled to sue, not just before God but in a court of law.

 

It may also appear odd but any unauthorized copying of a letter, report or memorandum, beyond what would be deemed as fair use, is indeed an infringement of copyright. Please note that your odd letter to your sweetheart is also protected by copyright.

 

The truth is that it is practically impossible to register even a tiny fraction of the works eligible for copyright.  Every day, without being conscious of it, we are all creating eligible works in our letters, reports, memos, lectures, addresses, sermons, scripts, etc. Should we be required to register all of these, we will have no time to do any other work.  Should the failure to register deny us the necessary protection? There are many who do not think so. To even attempt to register a fraction of the works eligible for copyright requires a bureaucracy, the size and cost of which is not meaningful to contemplate.

 

Just think of it: If registration is a condition for copyright protection, it then means that anyone who registers a work may claim copyright in the work even if he is not the creator of the work. Can you imagine the commotion that is likely to cause in a semi-literate society like ours with the enormous danger of fraudulent registrations which may in fact defeat the whole idea of copyright protection?

 

So, how do people establish the ownership of copyright in their works? Experience has shown that the quantum of disputes related to authorship, in decided copyright matters, is not so significant as to warrant the requirement for massive registration. Such disputes often are resolved using witnesses and other documentary evidence.  A cost/benefit analysis certainly cannot not justify registration.

 

Some may suggest that we register only the works we consider important. How do we know which works will ultimately be important? A lot of the works which overtime have acquired great economic or artistic value may never have been registered when they were created because little value may have been placed on them.  It means that as their true value became clear, they would have been denied copyright protection because of the failure to register them when they were made.

 

There are those who despite the foregoing explanation still do not feel comfortable about the lack of formal registration procedures.  Such persons can avail themselves of the age long practice of using the post office. The steps to take are as follows: -

 

Place a copy of the work requiring registration in an envelope.  Seal the envelope.  Address the envelope to yourself.  Register the package at the post office and post it.  Upon receipt of the package, do not open it.  If there is a dispute in future as to when the work was created, the sealed envelope which may be opened in court, may help establish evidence of the time of creation.

 

I hope that this piece has helped us to understand that things look very different when we give them deep thought.

 

The foregoing, in my series of copyright lectures in "Saturday Breakfast", is adapted from my book, "Copyright & the New Millionaires" A hard copy of the book can be obtained at TOPS LTD, 8 Tokunbo Alli St, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja. You may also call Edith on 0803 849 6110. I hope you found the piece informative.

 

See you next week.

TO ENJOY COPYRIGHT, A WORK MUST BE ORIGINAL

 

For a literary, musical or artistic work to enjoy copyright protection in Nigeria, it must have an original character. In other words, some effort in the sense of independent skill, industry, experience or judgement must have been expended in producing the work.

 

The question may then be asked; since the Abami Eda, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is widely reputed to have originated Afro Beat music, is it an infringement of Fela's copyright for Dede Mabiaku or Alariwo or even Femi to perform Afro Beat? Certainly not! It has become generally accepted that a person may create a new work in the same general form as an already existing work and there will be no infringement of copyright "provided he does so from his own resources and makes the work he so originates a work of his own, by his own labour and industry bestowed upon it".

 

From the above, if Lagbaja was to perform or make a new recording of Fela's mega hit tune, "Shakara" without authorization or compliance with the formalities required by law, he may be held for infringement of copyright as would be the case if he did not obtain necessary permission for recording his own version of Chris Ajilo's "Eko Gbagbere". However, the fact that some people consider "Coolu Temper" to be Afro Beat does not make Lagbaja a copyright infringer. While "Coolu Temper" and "Shakara" may belong to a similar musical genre, each of these beautiful pieces of music has been created with independent skill. Taking it further, we all can play our own version of reggae music all we want, but if we reproduce Bob Marley's "No Woman no Cry" without authorization or following the formalities prescribed by law, katakata may blow!

 

Following the ground-breaking success of the home video movie, "Living in Bondage" by Ken Nnebue's Nek Video, which many claim to have given birth to what we today know as Nollywood, many similar home video movies emerged in the Nigerian market in quick succession clearly to exploit the success of "Living in Bondage".  While some of these videos may be poor imitations of "Living in Bondage", no infringement of copyright may have occurred as long as they posses substantially independent story lines.

 

In determining originality, emphasis should be on the novelty or newness of the expression itself and not the novelty of the form of expression.  While the form of expression may be new, it need not be.  Applying this principle to our previous discussion, Afro Beat music is a form of expression while Shakara and Coolu Temper are different expressions using the Afro Beat form.  The copying of Afro Beat is not an infringement of copyright but the copying of Shakara is an infringement.

 

Originality with respect to copyright does not suggest that a similar work has not been created.  It means that the expression has not been copied.  A similar position was taken by Lord Reid with respect to literary works in University of London Press Ltd. v. University Tutorial Press Ltd.  Likewise, in the words of Justice Patterson in Ladbroke Ltd. v. William Hill Ltd, "the originality which is required relates to the expression of the thought.  But the Act does not require that the expression must be in an original or novel form but that the work must not be copied from another work – that it should originate from the author".

 

The world-wide success of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart⁶ has inspired many African writers to write in Achebe's form.  None of these novels may correctly be said to have infringed Achebe's copyright.

 

What then is the exact amount of effort which the author must make to give a work an original character? The labour, knowledge, judgement, skill, etc. which a creator may bestow upon a work to give it an original character cannot be defined in precise terms.  In every case, it must be determined with regards to the special circumstances of the case. 

 

It may also need stating that despite the fact that copyright in another work may have been infringed in the making of a new work, the new work will still be eligible for copyright as long as it is substantially not a copy of the other work⁷.

 

In the area of patents, once a work enjoys patent protection, no similar or identical work can enjoy the benefits of patent rights.  In the field of copyright however, it is indeed possible to have a similar or identical work being protected by copyright as long as both works were independently produced and any similarity is simply coincidental.

 

The English judge, Justice Sargant stated this clearly in Corelli v. Gray when he said "no absolute monopoly is given to authors analogous to that conferred on inventors of patents.  That is to say, if it could be shown as a matter of fact that two precisely similar works were in fact produced wholly independently of one another, I do not think that the author of the work that was published first would be entitled to restrain the publication by the other author of that author's independent and original work".

 

Just remember that for a literary, musical or artistic work to enjoy copyright protection in Nigeria, some effort in the sense of independent skill, industry, experience or judgement must have been expended in producing the work. In other words, the work must be original.

 

The foregoing, in my series of copyright lectures in "Saturday Breakfast", is adapted from my book, "Copyright & the New Millionaires" A hard copy of the book can be obtained at TOPS LTD, 8 Tokunbo Alli St, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja. You may also call Edith on 0803 849 6110. I hope you found the piece informative.

 

See you next week.

---

 

⁷