REPRONIG trains journalists on copyright issues

Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare, Lagos

Adebambo Adewopo, DG, NCCCopyright issues have been a vague and uncharted terrain in the Nigerian community for a long time.

No one seems interested in curbing the excessive misuse of intellectual properties and many do not even know they have committed a crime by using materials written by others, films, music, works of art and such others indiscriminately.

Some concerned bodies have been making efforts and many campaigns have been on for some time to orientate people on the need to pay for such use or get the necessary approval before using in part or fully other people’s works. The efforts of such bodies have however not been known by many in the society because the people who needs to blow the trumpet have not shown more concern on issues relating to copyright laws for many reasons.

The media is one of such stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of informing people of such laws and how they can fight for their right. It is because of this important function that the Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria, REPRONIG, organized and held a training workshop for media personnel recently at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

REPRONIG is an organization established to ensure that people pay for the illegal use of intellectual properties. The body held the training workshop for journalists to educate them on the correlation between copyright and developmental journalism.

The workshop according to the organizers was conceived with a view to seeing the two institutions with related objectives interacting with one another, seek areas of cooperation and be partners in progress in the service of humanity.

REPRONIG believes that the media has a role to play in protecting peoples intellectual and copy rights as they are also affected by this issue through the duplication of their work by e-publishers.

The purpose of the workshop was therefore to enlighten journalists on copyright laws to aid understanding and a full partnership between journalists and REPRONIG and also enhance objective reporting of copyright issues in Nigeria.

It was stated at the workshop that though the daily reports of journalists is often considered as not yet fully covered by reprographic rewards, a time will come that this will be looked into as few owners of copyright are known without the percentage of the media.

The organization hoped that at the end of the training, journalists will show more interest in the activities of those who are strengthening the template for intellectual productivity.

Lectures delivered at the workshop are; the Role of Collecting Society in Collective Administration of Rights in Nigeria by Professor Olalere Oladitan, Rights Reprography and the Media in Nigeria by Mr. Jare Ajayi and REPRONIG and the Challenges of Licensing Reprographic Rights in Nigeria: Matters Arising by Dr. Inyang A. Ekanem.

REPRONIG offers Reprographic Licenses to Institutions and Organizations that have the need to photocopy Copyright protected materials. The Reprographic license legalizes an otherwise illegal activity and REPRONIG distributes the license money to the owners of such intellectual properties.

REPRONIG is a collective society with the express mandate of safeguarding the use of an author’s work by a third party. They do this by issuing licenses for the use of such materials and the money they collect is however not kept in their coffers. They collect money and distribute such to the original owners of the intellectual work.

In his lecture, Mr. Jare Ajayi stated that some journalists have taken their spare time to author creative works and are listed among those who have mandates by the body that superintends and oversees the smooth institutionalization of copyright protection, the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations, FRRO.

It is the hope of REPRONIG that at the end of the workshop, the Nigerian media will beam its searchlights on collecting societies like REPRONIG to strengthen the template for the intellectual productivity.

Tales about a father’s unique car

A review of Tunji Ajibade’s Oko Baba Mi by Tunde Ajayi.

A short simple story written in poetic form, Oko Baba Mi is the expression of the thought of a child about an old rickety vehicle of his father. The car is so old that it becomes a disgrace to the child.

Many of the woes commonly associated with such old vehicles are the lot of the car of the old man - when it sleeps in the premises of its owner for two days it may sleep by the roadside for five days after developing a fault, it has to be pushed by a number of people each morning, it smokes irritatingly as it drags along on the road; it develops faults without any prior notice, above all, when it is most needed it brings the greatest disappointment. This is the nature of the old man’s car.

The little child cannot understand why his father’s car has to be the one with these features when all other people ride in beautiful and fast moving vehicles. When finally the child summons the courage to ask for explanation, his father makes him to realise that times and seasons determines the fate of man on the surface of the earth, that man should not employ foul means to get wealth and riches, and that after darkness the light will naturally come. Indeed, before the story ends, and after much endurance, times and seasons bring fortune the way of the old man. He becomes rich and in fact, begins to ride a brand new jeep.

Apart from being a good story for reading, Oko Baba Mi is a good poetic piece, full of poetic idioms and rhythm.

‘Ara po lara oko baba mi
Oko baba mi gan-an si lara
The story is written in simple but rich Yoruba language.
Lojo ti mo n wi yii

Ankoo ni baba mi ati mamaa mi wo
Aso ebi kemuye
Tun-mi-gbe ni won se
One particularly enjoys the personification of the old man’s vehicle. The car sings like any human being, it sleeps, it takes injection because it falls sick like a person, it walks, it drums, it drinks water.

Ko si ara ti oko baba mi kii da.
Bo ti n lulu
Lo n korin
O le teju mo mi nigba miran
Nigba miran ko seju si mi
Bi mo ti se n mumi
Ni oko baba mi n we

This is a vivid description from the point of view of a child, of the real nature of a very old car. The descriptive ability of the author in poetic form about his object makes the book enjoyable for reading. A reader is most unlikely to drop the book without reading it through to the end, to see the fate that eventually befalls the car and its unfortunate owner.

The theme of the story is simple — man is created to experience the good and the bad, the fortunate and the unfortunate in life, and when he is passing through the hard and unfortunate period of life, he should endure it all, because the period of comfort will come around again. A man who is passing through his period of darkness should not be despised.

Eni ti o ni loni
Le doloro lola
Ganniganni o ma gan ni mo
Eyin ganyanganyan
E ha gbagbe igbeyin
E wo igbeyin baba mi onikelulu
Oku oko a bero leyin
Ba mi fori ti I
Ko kanju wowo
Ko seburu ola
Ko se ilara awon ti
Igba n rerin-in si nigba naa.

The unfortunate today should not envy or hate the fortunate ones, because their own time of laughter will surely come.