By Akinyemi Ayinoluwa
This year is pregnant with events and attendant legal concerns, as such, practitioners will have to pay close attention to a number of issues. This article – in brevity – is a forecast heavily dependent on the prominent issues I dealt with in the 2014 calendar year – as an attorney in Nigeria. How these issues are dealt with can help minimize legal risks and maximize chances of successfully navigating the planes in 2015.
Legal issues are concerns arising from the law. These concerns bother about whether an event offends the law or whether a person’s action or inaction could pose problems with law enforcement. Customarily, legal expertise is needed to help resolve these concerns.
The following are issues practitioners would likely grapple with this year:
Dispute Resolution:
The Nigerian media space has been agog with distasteful episodes of Talent/Record Company severance and litigation, further probes will reveal that – in most cases – minor disputes (which could have been abated) were allowed to deteriorate.
While conducting transactions, parties must acknowledge, anticipate and adequately provide for the resolution of disputes, whenever same arises.
In Nigeria, disputes can be resolved by Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation. By nature of the entertainment industry, time is of the essence; as such, disputes should be expediently resolved. Needless litigations are capable of strangling projects and diminishing careers. Practitioners would do well to avoid them.
Immigration:
Entertainers do a lot of travelling all year round, especially the A-listers. By nature of their profession, they would have to subject themselves to the rules that regulate their entry into foreign territories. Immigration law embodies the rules established by countries for determining who is allowed to enter the country, and for how long. There have been instances where performances at world tours, concerts, festivals and similar engagements have been frustrated due to ineligibility or failed to meet the requisite requirements.
Copyrights And Copyrights Infringement:
The law of Copyrights is the foundation of the film, music, and broadcast industry. Copyright is an exclusive and assignable legal right guaranteed by law, it grants the creator of an original work rights to its use and distribution, usually for a fixed number of years, with the intention of enabling the creator to receive compensation for their intellectual effort.
Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission, infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. Whenever there is a semblance of an infringement, practitioners must take measures to enforce their rights.
Trademarks:
This industry is reliant on the distinction of identities. Trademarks, as an Intellectual Property guarantees that entrepreneurs benefit from the exploitation of their identity. One of such way is the merchandising of a Trademark.
A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others. Whenever a Trademark is infringed practitioners must seek redress.
Performance And Breach Of Contract:
Across the value chain of film and music, numerous promises will be exchanged by parties to transactions; consequently, contract documents will be signed. It thereafter behooves on parties to perform according to the dictates of the contract document or treat same with disdain. A breach could be minor or fatal, in either case incidents of breaches must be dealt with decisively.
Other areas of concern are issues of Debt Recovery, Incorporation of Businesses, Defamation, Project Financing, and Brand Collaboration.
The law is a tool available to all, practitioners must use same to their benefits. Ignorance could cost them numerous benefits that could accrue if they knew better. I guess the motto should be ‘pay attention to what pays you’.
