Copyright Law Protection of films in Nigeria (Nollywood) and South Africa (Sollywood): Pre and post‐Covid‐19 pandemic

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• Author: Jade Kouletakis,Ayoyemi Lawal‐Arowolo,Nkem Itanyi
• Date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jwip.12281

Received: 29 August 2022

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Accepted: 25 March 2023

DOI: 10.1111/jwip.12281

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Copyright Law Protection of films in Nigeria

(Nollywood) and South Africa (Sollywood): Pre

and post‐Covid‐19 pandemic

Jade Kouletakis

1

|Ayoyemi Lawal‐Arowolo

2

|Nkem Itanyi

3,4

1

Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland

2

School of Law and Security Studies, Babcock

University, Ilishan‐Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria

3

Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu,

Nigeria

4

Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK

Correspondence

Jade Kouletakis, Lecturer in Law, Abertay

University, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Email: j.kouletakis@abertay.ac.uk

Ayoyemi Lawal‐Arowolo, School of Law and

Security Studies, Babcock University, Ilishan

Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria

Email: arowoloa@babcock.edu.ng

Nkem Itanyi, Faculty of Law, University of

Nigeria, Enugu, Nigeria.

Email: nitanyi01@qub.ac.uk

Abstract

The Covid‐19 pandemic inflicted socioeconomic harm on

an unprecedented scale. Across the world and to varying

degrees, cinemas were closed, festivals were cancelled or

postponed, and film releases were moved to future dates or

delayed indefinitely. In 2020 the entire global theatrical and

home/mobile entertainment market totalled $80.8 billion,

the lowest figure since 2016 and a decline of 18% from

2019. Theatrical entertainment accounted for only 15% of

the total global entertainment revenue, compared to 43%

in 2019. While some has been written about the effects of

Covid‐19 on both international and local film industries,

this article seeks to provide an African perspective focusing

on the realities in Nigeria and South Africa, respectively.

This article examines the importance of filmmaking indus-

tries in Nigeria and South Africa as well as the difficulties

faced during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Copyright laws in

both terrains are critically reviewed based on the capacity

of these laws to protect the interests of film industries pre

and post‐Covid‐19.

KEYWORDS

copyright, Covid‐19, film, Nigeria, Nollywood, South Africa

J World Intellect Prop. 2023;26:436–457.436

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jwip

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which

permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no

modifications or adaptations are made.

© 2023 The Authors. The Journal of World Intellectual Property published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

1|INTRODUCTION

UNESCO recently released the first complete mapping of the film and audio–visual industry in 54 states of the

African continent. This included quantitative and qualitative data and an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses

at the continental and regional levels. According to this report, the production and distribution of film and

audio–visual works in Africa is ‘one of the most dynamic growth sectors in the world’, with ‘production […] growing

rapidly in Africa in recent years’.

1

UNESCO has recommended Nigeria's ‘Nollywood Model’as one can that can help other African countries to

build fully home‐grown, self‐sustaining commercial industries. This model is characterised by its low‐cost, speedy

production mode, which enables producers to complete a film for as low as US$15,000 in a matter of weeks.

Filmmaking in Nigeria is as old as the inception of Nigeria as a British colony. Since 2009, Nollywood films have

continuously thrived in Nigerian cinemas in terms of quantity and quality. Several films by locally based directors,

such as Confusion Na Wa (2013) by Kenneth Gyang or 93 Days (2016) by Steve Gukas, have screened at

international festivals like the Berlin International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the

Durban Film Festival.

2

South Africa, too has a longstanding history of a thriving film industry. In fact, South Africa's film industry—

Sollywood—is as old as Hollywood's. It was one of the few countries in the world to see and hear sound motion

pictures as early as 1895 when Kinetoscopes opened in Johannesburg, then a small town only 9 years old. The local

industry has proved its worth with films like the Oscar‐winners Tsotsi in 2005 and My Octopus Teacher in 2021, the

2005 Berlin Golden Bear—winning U‐Carmen eKhayelitsha, the Oscar‐nominated Yesterday in 2004 and the

celebrated Drum of 2004. The ground‐breaking, highly acclaimed coproduction with New Zealand and the United

States, District 9 (2009), cowritten and directed by South African Neil Blomkamp, earned South African actor

Sharlto Copley a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars and achieved US$210.8 million at the box office. South Africa

has also proven an attractive destination for filming international productions, as seen in such films as Invictus,Tomb

Raiders and The Avengers.

3

The Covid pandemic has inflicted socioeconomic harm on an unprecedented scale. Across the world and to

varying degrees, cinemas have been closed, festivals have been cancelled or postponed, and film releases have been

moved to future dates or delayed indefinitely. In 2020 the entire global theatrical and home/mobile entertainment

market totalled $80.8 billion, the lowest figure since 2016 and a decline of 18% from 2019. The sharpest decline

was in theatrical revenue, which dropped from $42.3 billion in 2019 to $12 billion in 2020. Theatrical entertainment

accounted for only 15% of the total global entertainment revenue, compared to 43% in 2019.

4

While some has

been written about the effects of Covid on both international and local film industries,

5

this article seeks to provide

an African perspective focusing on the realities in Nigeria and South Africa, respectively. This article will both

examine the importance of filmmaking industries in Nigeria and South Africa as well as highlight difficulties faced

amidst the Covid pandemic. In doing so, it will consider whether current copyright frameworks in place are up to the

task of protecting the interests of said industries in a post‐Covid world.

2|A PEEK INTO NIGERIA'S FILM INDUSTRY

Nigeria's film industry (Nollywood) is one of the world's best‐performing entertainment and media marketplaces.

6

It

is a highly informal industry created in an informal sector of the economy and addressed to a mass audience with

different characteristics from those in the Anglo‐American/Anglo‐European field.

7

The reasons why Nollywood has

become tremendously successful are not farfetched. On the surface, it is relatively easy to identify the globally

competitive pool of talent in Nollywood landscapes as drivers of Nigeria's status.

8

The development of Nollywood

is complex due to its dependence on low budgets and technologies.

9

Nollywood employs approximately one million

people and generates over $7 billion for the economy, thereby accounting for 1.4% of the country's Gross Domestic

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